Human Resource Development ( PDFDrive )

CHAPTER 12 Career Management and Development 433 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

On a more negative note, a large-scale survey of HR professionals in England
provides some troubling findings:

• Less than 50 percent of these professionals say that their organization has a

formal career management strategy.

• Twenty-six percent say that their organization’s career management strategy

covers all employees.

• Thirty-four percent think that senior managers in their organization are

“firmly committed” to career management.

• Fifty-six percent feel that line managers do not take career management seriously.
• Five percent report that line managers in their organization are trained to

support employee career development.215

Such findings suggest considerable room for improvement! Future research on
career development issues will hopefully be one part of addressing such concerns.216
Another topic that needs to be addressed more fully is the extent to which career
development issues differ across diverse employee populations, for example, by gen-
der, ethnicity, religion, age, and other considerations.217 Clearly, perceptions of
career success differ greatly between individuals, as do the extent to which indivi-
duals perceive meaning and a sense of belonging from work.218 Douglas Hall and
colleagues write about the need for individuals to feel a sense of purpose or “calling”
in order to experience psychological success.219 While this has most often been
linked to religious beliefs, both secular and religious views of a calling have been
presented.220 What seems important is that work have meaning to an individual,
that it come out of a sense of strong inner direction, and that it be seen as a means
of using one’s gifts or talents to serve a common or greater good.

To tie things together, we close the chapter with recommendations con-
cerning how to enhance organizational career development efforts:

1. Integrate individual developmental planning with organizational strategic
planning

2. Strengthen the linkages between career development and other HRM systems

3. Move career development systems toward greater openness

4. Enhance the role of managers in career development through both skill
building and accountability

5. Develop and expand peer learning and other team-based developmental
approaches

6. Stress on-the-job development; deemphasize traditional training programs
that are isolated, one-shot events

7. Emphasize enrichment and lateral movement

8. Identify and develop transferable competencies

9. Include values and lifestyle assessments in career development activities

10. Implement a variety of career development approaches to accommodate
different learning styles and the needs of a diverse workforce.

11. Tie career development directly to organizational quality initiatives

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

434 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

12. Expand career development measurement and evaluation
13. Continue to study best practices and organizational career development in a

global context221

RETURN TO OPENING CASE

Few colleges or universities practice student assess- record or portfolio of your professional development?
ment quite the way they do it at Alverno College. Inter-
ested readers are encouraged to check out the We hope you see the value in this to you and your
description of the Diagnostic Digital Portfolio on the
college website. Of relevance to this chapter, some own career development. If you are not assisted (or
of the inspiration for Alverno’s assessment efforts
was the pioneering work on assessment centers prodded) by your institution to do this, you can keep
done at AT&T in the 1960s and 1970s. As you look
back on the opening case, and our description of your own (hopefully digital) learning portfolio.
assessment centers in this chapter, we hope you
can see the parallels between the two. Beyond SOURCES: Bollag, B. (2006, October 27). Making an art form of
Alverno, the concept of a “learning record,” or “learn- assessment. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(10), A8–A10;
ing portfolio,” or “professional development portfo- Klenowski, V., Askew, S., & Carnell, E. (2006). Portfolios for learn-
lio” has become quite popular in education, including ing, assessment and professional development in higher education.
higher education. We again raise the pointed question Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3), 267–286;
to our readers: How are you doing in maintaining a Moore, L. J. (2006). Professional portfolios: A powerful vehicle for
reflective exercises and recording work based learning. Work
Based Learning in Primary Care, 4, 25–35; Woodbury, D., Neal, W.,
& Addams, L. (2008). The career portfolio – Teaching students to
market themselves. Proceedings of the Academy of Educational
Leadership, 13(1), 49–53; Alverno’s Diagnostic Digital Portfolio
(2011). Alverno College. Accessed on April 13, 2011 at: http://
www.alverno.edu/academics/ddp.html

SUMMARY

A career is the pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a per-
son’s life. Each individual is ultimately responsible for his or her own career,
which includes developing a clear understanding of self and environment in
order to establish career goals and plans. Organizations can assist an individual
by providing information, opportunities, and assistance. By doing so, the organi-
zation can enhance its internal labor market and be more effective in recruiting
and motivating employees (both contingent and long term). In turn, the individ-
ual gains an opportunity for enhanced employability. This is especially important
given the changes that have occurred in the employment relationship over the
past thirty-five years.

Erikson describes our lives as progressing through a series of stages, with each
stage presenting the individual with a challenge he or she must meet in order to
develop further and achieve happiness and a clear sense of self. Levinson similarly
describes adult life as progressing through a series of stages, with each era repre-
senting a season in a person’s life. In each season, the demands on the individual
change, and the individual works to make changes in his or her life to meet
those demands. Both models teach us that change is a normal and inevitable
part of adult life and that the challenges faced in life will affect career plans and
decisions. Several models of career development are presented, from a traditional

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 12 Career Management and Development 435

age-related model, to others (e.g., protean careers and career concepts) incorpo-
rating current trends in the organizational landscape.

Greenhaus and colleagues describe the process of career management from
the individual’s perspective as one in which the individual (1) explores the envi-
ronment, (2) develops a clear sense of environment and self-awareness, (3) sets
career goals, (4) develops a strategy to reach a goal, (5) implements the strategy,
(6) makes progress toward the goal, (7) obtains feedback on progress from work
and non-work sources, and (8) appraises his or her career. Using this process can
enable an individual to achieve career satisfaction and greater life happiness.
Three organizationally focused models of career management, the pluralistic
model, the systems model, and a team-based model, are presented as examples
of how organizations may be able to link their career management process to an
organization’s structure and strategy.

The roles to be played by the individual, HRD practitioner, and manager in
career development are also presented. In particular, we discuss the competen-
cies, such as adaptability, learning how to learn, and relationship formation and
maintenance, that individuals need to effectively manage their careers.

Organizations use a variety of tools and techniques to manage employee
careers. These include self-assessment tools and activities, such as workbooks,
workshops, and computer programs, individual career counseling, job posting
exchanges, organizational potential assessment, and developmental programs
such as job rotation and mentoring. These activities and practices help employees
gather information to develop career awareness, formulate career plans, and offer
opportunities to implement these plans.

Designing a career management program involves steps similar to those for
developing any HRD intervention: conducting a needs assessment, identifying the
goals and components of a program, establishing criteria to measure effectiveness,
implementing the program, and evaluating its effectiveness. In addition, organizations
should consider the issues of career motivation, career plateaus, and career develop-
ment for non-exempt workers when designing career development programs.

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

assessment centers job posting
career job rotation
career concepts mentoring
career development outplacement counseling
career management potential assessment
career motivation potential ratings
career path preretirement counseling
career planning protean career
career plateau self-assessment activities
ego integrity succession planning
generativity

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

436 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What can be gained by defining the term career broadly as the pattern of
work-related experiences that span the course of one’s life? That is, compare
this definition with other commonly held notions of the term career.

2. How does Levinson’s approach to adult development relate to Greenhaus
and colleagues’ five-stage model of career development? That is, compare
and contrast the similarities and differences between these two models.

3. Using your knowledge of the stages of life and career development, explain
how the career issues of a twenty-seven-year-old differ from those of a
forty-five-year-old. What are the organizational implications of the issues
you identified?

4. Protean careers and the career concepts model offer ideas intended to rec-
oncile the idea of career development with the changes going on in the
environment and in organizations. In your view, how do these ideas con-
tribute to our understanding of career development? How well do they fit
with your views of career development? Based on these ideas, identify and
describe two actions you could take to increase the chances you will have
the kinds of work experiences and lifestyle that you would like.

5. Describe ways in which career management can be viewed as a problem-
solving and decision-making process.

6. Explain how both organizations and individuals can benefit from a well
designed career management system.

7. Discuss the value of self-assessment tools and activities to effective career
development.

8. As a career development tool, mentoring has been linked to both potential
benefits and problems for organizations and individuals. Given these potential
benefits and problems, describe how you feel about the prospect of becoming
involved in a mentoring relationship as part of your own career development.
What would your concerns be, and what would you like to see an organiza-
tion do to ensure that the mentoring experience is a positive one?

9. Recent research suggests that career plateaus are more complex than previ-
ously thought. Briefly explain why an individual’s perception of being pla-
teaued is important and how organizations may want to develop multiple
ways for dealing with plateaued employees.

10. The flattening of many organizational structures is forcing many individuals
and organizations to change their perceptions of what career advancement is
all about. What are some alternatives to upward movement as a career
option? How do you feel about the prospect of these alternatives as opposed
to the traditional upward progress within your own career?

EXERCISE 1: A CAREER PLANNING ESSAY222

Students in classes where this text is used have typically already prepared a formal
resume. Some students will also have had experience outlining their career goals
and/or job search strategies. For those without such experiences, the following

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 12 Career Management and Development 437 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

exercise by Douglas Lyon and Eric Kirby should prove useful. An important
concept behind such a project is that each person should seek to actively manage
one’s own career (the value of this notion is hopefully apparent to you after
reading this chapter).

Assignment

Each student should answer the following three general questions:

a) Where do I want to be?
b) Where am I now?
c) How am I going to get there?

The primary end product of this assignment is an action plan concerning how you
plan to close the gap between your current and your desired situation. Consider the
following issues and questions as you address each portion of the assignment:

a. Where do I want to be?
Some issues to consider here include:

• What are my short-term career objectives?
• What are my long-term career objectives?
• What sorts of lifestyle issues are important to me (e.g., location, hours

worked)?

• What personal values are most important to me (e.g., alignment with per-

sonal ethics, time spent with family)?

• Are there life stage or career stage issues that are relevant to my current

decision making?

b. Where am I now?
Two key issues should be addressed here:

• An assessment of my current personal values
• An assessment of my current knowledge, skills, abilities, and other qualifi-

cations compared to those required for a desired job

Self-reflection is most important here, though the opinions of people who know
you, as well as the results of assessment surveys can also be very useful (most
institutions of higher learning provide student access to various self-assessment
devices through a career services center, often free of charge).

c. How am I going to get there?
In this section, you should outline a plan of action to obtain your goals. This
may be very specific if you are already very clear on your career goals, but it
may be more general if your career objectives are less clear. In either case, the
idea is to discuss ways of pursuing a career that are most consistent with your
lifestyle goals and values. The concept of a Professional Development Portfolio
(discussed in the Opening Case) can be of great value in documenting one’s
progress toward a desired goal.

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

438 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

EXERCISE 2: THE FIVE-YEAR RESUME223

Dennis and Ruth Laker recommend a six-step process for students to use to map
out where they would like to be “five years from now.” These are:

1. Create or provide a current, up-to-date resume that accurately portrays your
current educational and professional accomplishments. This answers the
question, “Where am I now?”

2. The primary goal of this exercise is to create a new resume that presents
what you would like your resume to look like in five years. This should
include items such additional education, degrees, credentials, certifications,
honors, awards, publications, presentations, or volunteer activities that you
would like to have completed five years from now. You are encouraged to
seek assistance from career counseling professionals, faculty, as well as profes-
sionals in your field of interest, as you work on this part of the project.

3. Once your five-year resume is completed, the next task is to create both
short- and long-terms goals. Start by looking at the gaps or differences
between the five-year resume and your current resume; this forms the basis
for your long-terms goals. Once you have identified your long-terms goals,
you then need to create short-term goals or milestones that can be measured
and achieved as you progress towards your long-term goals.

4. Once your short-terms goals or milestones are in place, the next step is to create
action plans that identify what you will do to accomplish each milestone, as well
as what resources you will need to do this. Some questions to ask include: What
is going to be done? When will it be done? What resources will be needed (e.g.,
time, money, emotional and physical support, experiences, opportunities)?

5. The fifth step is to discuss how you will implement your action plans. This
might include a plan for periodic reevaluation at regular intervals (e.g.,
annually), or after major life events. Remember that action planning is an
on-going process, and that all plans are subject to change! What is your
plan to keep yourself (and your plan) on track?

6. Finally, summarize what you have learned from this exercise. If asked by
your instructor, prepare a final report that outlines what you did for each
step of the process (including both resumes), and what conclusions you
have drawn from doing this project. Some final questions to consider:
a) What difficulties did you have in completing this exercise? b) How did
you resolve these difficulties? c) What do you see as the major benefits of
this exercise? d) What do you see as any disadvantages or drawbacks of this
exercise?

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

13

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define management development and describe the extent to which it is used

in U.S. organizations
2. Describe the approaches that have been taken to describe the managerial job
3. Explain specific ways that management development can be linked to organi-

zational goals and strategies
4. Describe the options and trends in management education
5. Explain how training and on-the-job experiences can be used to develop

managers
6. Describe the components of two approaches frequently used in management

development programs: leadership training and behavior modeling training
7. Use the HRD process model to design, implement, and evaluate management

development programs

439

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

440 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

OPENING CASE

Imagine yourself among the executives and man- up about the advisability of offering a management
agers of a large, urban hospital. Your hospital is a training program. You might address the various
private, nonprofit hospital that serves a number of changes and challenges in your external environment,
low-income neighborhoods. The long-standing mis- for example, with so many other hospitals to choose
sion of the hospital has been to provide quality service from, how do you become the preferred healthcare
to the community, regardless of an individual’s ability alternative for this “new” population of clients? You
to pay. However, changes and turmoil in the health- are also thinking of ways to improve the internal envi-
care industry have raised concerns about your hospi- ronment, that is, how you can be more efficient by
tal’s ability to remain viable and financially solvent. As making the best use of the new technology that will
a top management team, you have decided to main- be available in your new facility.
tain your commitment to your existing clients. How-
ever, you also wish to attract more clients with the Questions: If you are part of this top management
means (or insurance packages) to pay for your ser- team, do you think it is a good idea to offer manage-
vices. Add to this situation the fact that you are ment training at this time? If so, where would you
about to move into a new facility, which includes a start? What would be your focus? What particular chal-
new computer system designed to improve the over- lenges would you expect to face as you moved into this
all efficiency of your hospital. The question has come new facility?

INTRODUCTION

Do you think the following statements are true or false?

• It is predicted that there will be fewer managers in the United States by the

end of this decade than there are presently.

• Researchers have been able to describe the managerial job with a high

degree of precision.

• The systems model of HRD (assess-design-implement-evaluate) is not very

helpful when it comes to management development.

• Management education is a small and decreasing proportion of all the postsec-

ondary educational opportunities available to students in the United States.

• Corporate universities are only popular among very large organizations.
• Behavior modeling training may work fine for entry-level jobs, but it has

not been found to be very effective for management development efforts.

For at least the past seventy years, managers have been viewed as a dynamic
and important element of business organizations. Given the turbulence in today’s
environment, an organization must have a high-quality, flexible, and adaptive
management team if it is to survive and succeed.1 This is true even for organiza-
tions that have chosen to restructure (e.g., with flatter hierarchies, and fewer per-
manent employees) and empower employees to be more a part of organizational
decision making. It is managers who are ultimately responsible for making the
decision to change their organizations’ strategies and structures, and it is managers
who must ensure that these new approaches are implemented, modified, and
executed in a way that achieves the organizations’ goals. While they may do
this in a different way than they have in the past (e.g., less command and control,

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 441 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

more leading and coaching), managers still play a critical role in organizations’
adaptation and success.2 In essence, using fewer managers in an organization
makes it more important that each manager is effective.

It should be noted that, even though popular press reports suggest that the
number of managers is shrinking, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that
the category of “management, business, and financial occupations” contained
approximately 15.7 million people in 2008. Furthermore, this category is expected
to show a net gain of 1.7 million jobs between 2008 and 2018, for a projected 10.6
percent increase.3

Management development is one major way for organizations to increase
the chances that managers will be effective. While many believed that the ability
to manage (like the ability to lead) is primarily an inborn capability, the current
prevailing view is that most of the KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics) required to be an effective manager can be learned or enhanced.4
Efforts to recruit, retain, and assess managerial talent are discussed elsewhere.5

Management development is a very popular HRD activity. Management
development has been defined in many ways.6 For the purposes of this chapter,
the following definition captures the essence of management development as it
can and should be practiced in organizations:

An organization’s conscious effort to provide its managers (and potential
managers) with opportunities to learn, grow, and change, in hopes of
producing over the long term a cadre of managers with the skills necessary
to function effectively in that organization.7

First, this definition suggests that management development should be seen as
specific to a particular organization. Although there appear to be roles and compe-
tencies that apply to managing in a variety of settings, each organization is unique,
and its goal should be to develop individuals to be more effective managers within
its own context.8 Second, management development consists of providing
employees with opportunities for learning, growth, and change. All of the issues
pertaining to learning—and especially adult learning (discussed in Chapter 3)—
come into play as we seek to assist managers in “learning how to learn.”9 While
there is no guarantee that particular individuals will take advantage of, or profit
from, these opportunities, management development cannot occur unless oppor-
tunities are at least provided.10 Third, management development must be a con-
scious effort on the part of an organization. Leaving development to chance greatly
reduces the likelihood that the organization will achieve the kinds of changes it
needs and desires. Fourth, management development (like all HRD activities)
should be directly linked to the organization’s strategy, that is, it must meet the
organization’s business needs if it is to be a sound investment.11 While many cur-
rent management development programs do not conform to this definition, we
think this serves as a benchmark to which such programs can and should aspire.

Management development can be described as having three main components:
management education, management training, and on-the-job experiences.12
Management education can be defined as “the acquisition of a broad range of con-
ceptual knowledge and skills in formal classroom situations in degree-granting
institutions.”13 As we will describe later, the “formal classroom situations” to which

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

442 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

the definition refers include a wide range of activities, with the classroom setting
increasingly being used to bring together and process the results of outside activities
to draw conclusions about what has been learned. Management training focuses
more on providing specific skills or knowledge that can be immediately applied
within an organization and/or to a specific position or set of positions within an
organization (e.g., middle managers).14 On-the-job experiences are planned or
unplanned opportunities for a manager to gain self-knowledge, enhance existing
skills and abilities, or obtain new skills or information within the context of day-
to-day activities (e.g., mentoring, coaching, assignment to a task force).15

In this chapter, we will discuss a number of management development activities
that are used within each of these three components.

Extent of Management Development Activities

As mentioned earlier, management development is one of the most commonly
offered approaches to HRD. In a 2010 survey, organizations reported using 27 percent
of their training budgets to providing management development, with an additional
22 percent for executive development. Strikingly, only 26 percent of all training
dollars were spent on nonexempt employees, with the rest (25 percent) going to
exempt-level, non-managerial employees. The total cost of formal training aimed
at management (including executives) was estimated to be almost $26 billion.16
The most frequently cited reasons for developing managers include broadening the
individual and providing knowledge or skills.17

Organization of the Chapter

Management development comprises such a broad range of issues and approaches
that we cannot cover it all in a single chapter. Rather, we will focus our discussion
in the following areas:

1. Describing the managerial job, including roles managers must perform and
the competencies necessary for performing them effectively

2. Making management development strategic
3. Assessing options available for management education
4. Assessing options available for management training and using on-the-job

experiences for management development
5. Providing a description of two common approaches used to develop managers

(leadership training and behavior modeling training for interpersonal skills)
6. The designing of management development programs

DESCRIBING THE MANAGER’S JOB: MANAGEMENT
ROLES AND COMPETENCIES

Given that almost all organizations employ managers, the scrutiny under which
managers operate, and the vast literature on management and its subfields, one
would expect that we would have a clear idea of what managers do, the KSAOs
necessary to do those things effectively, and how to identify and develop those

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 443 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

KSAOs. Unfortunately, there is not an extensive research literature concerning
what managers do, how they learn to do it, and how they should be developed.18
While it is true that popular conceptions of a manager’s role and development are
available, scientific research has yet to provide a clearly supported and accepted
model that can be used to guide management development. Even among the
best empirical studies in this area, such as the Management Progress Study con-
ducted over a thirty-year period at AT&T, there are significant limitations (e.g.,
small sample sizes, analysis of only one organization) that make it difficult to con-
fidently conclude what most or all managers do and how they develop.19

The changes that have occurred in organizations in the past two decades have
only complicated this picture. Many of the research studies from the 1970s
and earlier looked at management in hierarchically structured organizations that
operated in relatively stable environments. As we have pointed out many times,
organizations must respond to environmental challenges to stay competitive, and
the structures and strategies they use change over time. The role of management
has changed in most organizations as well. It is likely that the established views of
the management job may be more relevant for some organizations than others.

This is not to say that what we learned in the past is useless. But we do need
to know which aspects from the past are still relevant and descriptive of manag-
ing at the present time. This underscores the need for HRD professionals to
identify what the management job is (and needs to be) in their own organization
before they can design and deliver management development processes and pro-
grams that will meet the needs of their own business and contribute to its com-
petitiveness and effectiveness. In this section of the chapter, we briefly describe
several approaches to conceptualizing the management role to suggest a starting
point in designing a reasonable management development program. As indicated
in the definition of management development presented above, meaningful
management development is likely to differ among organizations, considering
the context and challenges facing each particular organization. Designers of
such programs should begin their efforts by obtaining a clear understanding of
an organization (including its external environment, goals, strategic plan, culture,
strengths and weaknesses) and the characteristics of the target population (man-
agers and managers-to-be).20 The research available on what managers do, how
they do it, and how they develop the needed capabilities can provide a useful
base from which to begin the needs assessment process. It is unrealistic, however,
to expect such research to provide the blueprint for any particular organization’s
management development strategy.

Approaches to Understanding the Job of Managing

Researchers who have examined the job of managing have done so from at least
three perspectives: describing the characteristics of the job as it is typically performed,
describing the roles managers serve, and developing process models that show how
the various components of managing relate to each other.21 The characteristics
approach involves observing the tasks managers perform and grouping them into
meaningful categories. McCall, Morrison, and Hannan review the results of a
group of observational studies and conclude that ten elements of managing are con-
sistently present.22 These elements indicate that the management job involves long

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

444 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

hours of work (primarily within an organization), high activity levels, fragmented
work (e.g., many interruptions), varied activities, primarily oral communication,
many contacts, and information gathering. In addition, managers tend not to be
reflective planners (given the variety of tasks and fragmented nature of the work)
and do poorly in accurately estimating how they spend their time.

While these observations may be interesting, they do not provide much assis-
tance in describing specifically what managers do, how they do it, and how they
should be developed. A common conclusion from such studies is that important
questions about the job remain unanswered (e.g., the relationship of the activities
to each other) and that “knowing that the managerial job is varied and complex is
not particularly helpful in the identification and/or development process.”23

A second approach to describing the managerial job is to identify the roles that
managers are typically assigned. This can be accomplished by using either an observa-
tional approach or an empirical approach. The observational approach is typified by
Fayol’s five management functions (planning, organizing, commanding, coordinat-
ing, and controlling) and Mintzberg’s managerial roles: interpersonal (figurehead,
leader, liaison), informational (monitor, disseminator, spokesperson), and decisional
(entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator).24 While
these categorizations are quite popular, they too do not adequately describe what
managers do. They also lack specificity.25

The empirical approach relies on a descriptive questionnaire (e.g., the Man-
agement Position Description Questionnaire) that is completed by managers them-
selves, and/or by others who work with them.26 However, even this approach has
failed to provide practical, meaningful descriptions of the job.27 Taken together,
the observational and empirical approaches to categorizing the managerial role
have not proved very useful as a definition of the managerial job or as a guide to
developing managers.

One way researchers try to overcome the limitations of previous approaches
is to develop process models that take into account the relevant competencies and
constraints involved in performing the management job. Two process models we
highlight are the integrated competency model and the four-dimensional model.28
The integrated competency model is based on interviews of over 2,000 managers in
twelve organizations. The model focuses on managerial competencies, that is, skills
and/or personal characteristics that contribute to effective performance, rather than
the roles managers perform.29 The model identifies twenty-one competencies that
are grouped into six categories: human resource management, leadership, goal and
action management, directing subordinates, focus on others, and specialized knowl-
edge.30 Table 13-1 shows the specific competencies included in each cluster. The
human resources, leadership, and goal and action clusters are seen as most central to
managing.

A major contribution of this model from Boyatzis and colleagues is its attempt
to describe the managerial job in terms of the competencies that contribute to
performance and the relationships among these competencies. The integrated
competency model is an example of a competency-based approach to manage-
ment development. Competency-based approaches have become very popular,
not only as the basis for management development programs, but for other train-
ing and development programs and HR programs as well.31

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 445

Cluster Competencies TABLE 13-1
Human Resource Management Clusters and
Use of socialized power Competencies
Leadership Positive regarda Associated with
Managing group processes the Integrated
Goal and Action Management Accurate self-assessmenta Competency Model

Directing Subordinates Self-confidence
Focus on Others Use oral presentations
Conceptualization
Specialized Knowledge Logical thoughta

Efficiency orientation
Proactivity
Concern with impact
Diagnostic use of concepts
Use of unilateral powera
Spontaneitya
Developing othersa

Perceptual objectivity
Self-control
Stamina and adaptability
Concern with close relationships

Memory
Specialized job knowledgea

NOTE: aIdentified as “threshold competencies,” that is, characteristics essential to performing a job, but
not causally related to superior job performance.

SOURCE: From Schoenfeldt, L. F., & Steger, J. A. (1990). Identification and development of managerial
talent. In Ferris, G. R., & Rowland, K. M. (Eds.), Organizational Entry (p. 210). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

A weakness of the integrated competency model is that the model is based PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
on a narrow range of measuring devices, which are not likely to represent or
reveal all of the traits, skills, and knowledge needed for managerial perfor-
mance.32 In addition, the method by which the competencies are identified has
been criticized. The instrument used, called the Behavioral Event Interview
(BEI), asks managers to describe three job incidents they feel were effective and
three job incidents they feel were ineffective. Barrett and Depinet argue that this
method is inappropriate for measuring competencies as Boyatzis describes
them.33 That is, Boyatzis describes a competency as “an underlying characteristic
of a person in that it may be a motive, trait, skill, aspect of one’s self-image or
social role, or a body of knowledge he or she uses” (p. 21), and says competen-
cies may be unconscious and that an individual may be “unable to articulate or
describe them” (p. 21).34 The validation process used to support this model (and
other competency models) has been challenged.35

The second process model of the managerial job that can contribute to
designing management development efforts is the four-dimensional model.36
Based on various information sources (e.g., managerial diaries, interviews,

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

446 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

performance evaluation documents, observation), this model depicts the manage-
rial role as having the following dimensions:

1. Six functions—forecasting and planning, training and development, persuasive com-
munication, influence and control, expertise/functional area, and administration

2. Four roles—innovator, evaluator, motivator, director

3. Five (relational) targets—peers, subordinates, superiors, external, and self

4. An unspecified number of managerial styles (attributes that describe the image
and approach of the manager)—examples include objectivity, personal impact,
leadership, energy level, and risk taking

The four-dimensional model states that managers interact with various tar-
gets (e.g., subordinates), carrying out an assortment of functions by performing
specific roles (i.e., the roles that exist within each of the functions). The way
they perform these functions and roles is consistent with their managerial style.
For example, in performing the training and development function with a sub-
ordinate (the target), the manager may have to direct the subordinate, motivate
him or her during training, and evaluate progress (all roles contained within the
training and development function). The manager may do this by using a par-
ticular style (e.g., objectivity, which involves evaluating and responding to the
subordinate in an unbiased manner).

The four-dimensional and integrated competency models include similar skills,
roles, and activities and provide a solid basis for describing the managerial job and
designing management development programs (see Schoenfeldt & Steger for a dis-
cussion of the relationships among the models).37 These models provide a conceptual
basis to view the role of managers within a specific organization and the competen-
cies managers need to perform effectively. However, these models do not have a
sizable body of empirical research to support their validity. Just as importantly, these
models should not be viewed as substitutes for a thorough needs assessment.

Managers As Persons: A Holistic View
of the Manager’s Job

The approaches we have presented to describing the manager’s job all have one
thing in common: they attempt to describe the manager’s job by identifying its
elements. This approach has its risks and limitations, according to authors such as
Henry Mintzberg and Peter Vaill.38 Mintzberg describes the problem as follows:

If you turn to the formalized literature, you will find all kinds of lists—of
tasks or roles or “competencies.” But a list is not a model … and so the
integrated work of managing still gets lost in the process of describing it.
And without such a model we can neither understand the job properly
nor deal with its many important needs—for design, selection, training,
and support … We have been so intent on breaking the job into pieces
that we never came to grips with the whole thing.39

Vaill raises this concern in light of the turbulent environment in which man-
agers must manage.40 While he believes that naming the functions that managers
must perform can “define the territory that leaders and managers are concerned

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 447 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

with” (p. 114), the list-of-functions approach leaves out something essential: the
performing of the managerial job. Vaill explains the problem this way:

The list of functions approach forgets that action taking is a concrete process
before it is anything else. Furthermore, it is a concrete process performed by a
whole person in relation to a whole environment populated by other whole
persons (that is, not other lists of functions). This whole process is embedded
in time and is subject to the real time of its operation and to all the turbulence
and change that surround it, that indeed suffuse it, because the turbulence
and change are within action takers as much as they surround them. Simply
to name the function to be performed as though it were the action ignores all
of this richness of the actual action-taking process, and worst of all, ultimately
masks the richness and leads to an empty model of what the action-taking
process is [emphasis in original].41

Vaill uses the metaphor of “managing as a performing art” to show that the job
of managing is more than the sum of its competencies, roles, and functions, just as,
for example, a jazz band or dance troupe performance is more than the pieces or
knowledge and skills that make it up.42 He criticizes the competency movement,
arguing that it is based on a set of assumptions that may not be true, in effect “pre-
suming a world that does not exist, or that is at least quite improbable.”43

In response to these deficiencies, Mintzberg developed a model of the man-
ager’s job that attempts to bring together what has been learned about managing
in a more holistic or integrated way.44 His goal is to develop a model that reflects
the richness and variety of styles individuals use in carrying out the managerial
job. The model represents the manager’s job as a framework of concentric cir-
cles, in what he calls a “well-rounded” job. Figure 13-1 shows a diagram of
Mintzberg’s well-rounded model. The words in the model refer to the seven
interrelated roles Mintzberg sees as making up the managerial job: conceiving,
scheduling, communicating, controlling, leading, linking, and doing.

At the center of the model is the person in the job. The person brings to the
job a set of values, experiences, knowledge, competencies, and mental models
through which he or she interprets environmental events. These components
combine to form the individual’s managerial style, which drives how the person
carries out the job. The next circle contains the frame of the job, which is the
“mental set the incumbent assumes to carry it out” (p. 12). The frame includes
the person’s idea of the purpose of what he or she is trying to accomplish as well
as the person’s approach to getting the job done. Working within this frame
involves the role Mintzberg calls conceiving. The heavy line curving around
the frame of the job is meant to depict everything in the organization that is
under the manager’s control, that is, his or her span of control.

The next circle contains the agenda of the work. The agenda is made up of the
issues that are of concern to the manager and the schedule (i.e., allocation of time)
used to accomplish the work. Dealing with the agenda of the work involves the
role of scheduling. The frame of the job and agenda of the work are surrounded
by the actual behaviors that managers perform, both inside and outside of the unit they
manage. Mintzberg sees three levels of action: managing through information
(which involves the roles of communicating and controlling), managing through

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

448 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

FIGURE 13-1
Mintzberg’s “Well
Rounded” Model of
the Managerial Job

SOURCE: Reprinted from
Mintzberg, H. (1994). “Rounding
Out the Manager’s Job.” MIT
Sloan Management Review,
36(1): 1994, p. 23, by
permission of publisher.
Copyright 1994 by
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. All rights
reserved. Distributed by
Tribune Media Services.

people (which involves the roles of linking and leading), and managing through
direct action (which involves the role of doing tasks).

Mintzberg’s central argument is that “while we may be able to separate the
components of the job conceptually, I maintain that they cannot be separated
behaviorally … it may be useful, even necessary, to delineate the parts for pur-
poses of design, selection, training and support. But this job cannot be practiced
as a set of independent parts” (p. 22). He points out that the manager’s job will
vary, depending on what is called for by the work and the particular approach or
style a manager uses. The manager’s style will affect his or her work through the
roles he or she favors, the way in which the roles are performed, and the rela-
tionship that exists among the roles. Mintzberg states that interviews with man-
agers he has met bear out his ideas of the variety and richness of the managerial
job. Like the other approaches to describing the manager’s job, Mintzberg’s
model should be seen as a work-in-progress, awaiting further development and
validation through research.45 Recently, Scott Quatro and colleagues proposed a
framework for developing holistic leaders that emphasized four domains, i.e.,
analytical, conceptual, emotional, and spiritual domains of leadership practice.46

What can HRD professionals take away from the ideas presented by Vaill
and Mintzberg? We think the main contribution is that they remind us that the

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 449 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

job of managing is a complex, multifaceted, and integrated endeavor. While
competency models and lists of KSAOs are useful in identifying what it takes
to do the job and as focal points for management development programs,
HRD professionals should not think that management development is only
about developing roles and competencies. We need to remember that managers
are people who perform work, not collections of competencies or KSAOs. Some
practical implications of this are that HRD professionals should:

1. Recognize that one of the goals of management development is to develop
the whole person, so that he or she can manage effectively within the con-
text of the organization and external environment.

2. Design programs and processes that go beyond the one-shot event, and
include ongoing activities that provide the opportunity to reinforce and
refine what has been learned in the context of performing the work.

3. Build into programs and practices a recognition of the interrelationships
between the “components” of managing, so that participants can see and
feel how what they are learning can be integrated into the whole of the
management job.

4. Implement programs and processes in a way that recognizes and takes advan-
tage of the values, knowledge, and experiences that participants bring to the
management experience.

5. Consider what the person brings to the job of managing when dealing with
learning and transfer of training issues.

6. Include recognition of these issues when conducting needs assessment and
evaluation activities for management development programs.

Importance of Needs Assessment in Determining
Managerial Competencies

As we stated in Chapter 4, needs assessment provides critical information in
determining the conditions for training, where training is needed, what kind of
training is needed, and who needs training. Given the fact that research on the
managerial job has left many unanswered questions, the importance of conduct-
ing a thorough needs assessment before designing a management development
program is amplified.47 Despite this, many organizations fail to conduct proper
needs assessments. According to a survey of 1,000 organizations by Lise Saari
and colleagues, only 27 percent of respondents reported conducting any needs
assessment before designing management development programs.48 A review of
forty-four studies where needs assessment was discussed found that 36 percent
analyzed organizational-level needs, with lower percentages for assessment of
process, group, or individual-level needs.49 A survey of quality managers in
three European countries found a reliance on supervisory opinion as the primary
basis for needs assessment, rather than any of the more formal assessment meth-
ods presented in Chapter 4.50 Ronald Riggio recently lamented the relative lack
of needs assessment efforts prior to the implementation of leadership develop-
ment programs, despite the billions of dollars per year spent on such programs.51

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

450 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

Cumulatively, these studies suggest that many organizations are likely wasting
critical resources on inadequately focused management development efforts.

Some organizations are doing a good job of needs assessment for management
development and as a result have a clearer idea of the competencies and issues their
development programs should address. For example, Aeroquip-Vickers have top
managers identify the top twenty-five competencies that managers need for future
success. This is then used to form a managerial success profile that guides subsequent
management development efforts in this organization.52 As a second example, the
Ritz-Carlton hotel chain based their award-winning leadership training program
on both the organizational mission and a needs analysis.53 Similarly, the Blanchard
Valley Health Association, a healthcare system in Findlay, Ohio, used needs assess-
ment to formulate its Leaders for Tomorrow program. This year-long program
includes classroom learning, small-group discussion, computer learning modules,
and an “action learning” component, where managers work on job-related pro-
jects.54 Finally, the State of Idaho completed an intensive needs assessment before
implementing its Certified Public Manager (CPM) program for state managers.55
We hope these examples illustrate the value of conducting a thorough investigation
of the competencies needed to perform effectively before designing a management
development program.

The Globally Competent Manager

The advent of the global economy has led to recommendations that organiza-
tions create management development programs that supplement international
assignments in producing globally competent managers.56 Organizations such as
Corning Glass, 3M, ITT, and General Electric have incorporated this perspec-
tive into their management development programs. We present three examples
of how the competencies needed to be an effective global manager have been
conceptualized.

Bartlett and Ghoshal argue that to succeed in a global environment, organi-
zations need a network of managers who are specialists in global issues, and that
organizations do not need to globalize all managers.57 They suggest four catego-
ries of managers are needed:

1. Business Managers—this type of manager plays three roles, serving as “the
strategist for the organization, the architect of its worldwide asset configuration,
and the coordinator of transactions across national borders” (p. 125).

2. Country Managers—this type of manager, who works in the organization’s
national subsidiaries, also plays three roles, serving as “the sensor and interpreter
of local opportunities and threats, the builder of local resources and capabilities,
and the contributor to active participation in global strategy” (p. 128).

3. Functional Managers—these managers are functional specialists (e.g., in engineer-
ing, marketing, human resources) who “scan for specialized information world-
wide, ‘cross-pollinate’ leading-edge knowledge and best practice, and champion
innovations that may offer transnational opportunities and applications” (p. 130).

4. Corporate Managers—these managers serve in corporate headquarters and
orchestrate the organization’s activities, playing the roles of leader and talent

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 451 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

scout (i.e., by identifying potential business, country, and functional man-
agers) and developing promising executives.

Bartlett and Ghoshal illustrate these roles by using case studies of managers at
Procter & Gamble, Electrolux, and NEC.58 They suggest that organizations need
to develop management teams capable of performing these functions in concert
to achieve the organization’s goals. While this categorization provides some sense
of how these roles inter-relate, further research is needed to determine whether
this approach can be a useful basis for developing global managers.

Adler and Bartholomew present a second point of view.59 These authors
identify seven transnational skills that they believe are necessary to managing effec-
tively in a global environment: global perspective, local responsiveness, synergistic
learning, transition and adaptation, cross-cultural interaction, collaboration, and
foreign experience. They argue that transnationally competent managers need a
broader set of skills than traditional managers. Adler and Bartholomew state that
an organization’s human resource management strategies must be modified in
order to manage and develop such managers, and they conclude from a survey
of fifty North American firms that these organizations’ HRM strategies are less
global than their business strategies.60 These authors provide recommendations
for how HRM systems can be modified to become more global—for example,
developmental activities should prepare managers to work “anywhere in the
world with people from all parts of the world” (p. 59). Follow-up work on global
career paths has been presented by Cappellen and Janssens.61

These two views of the globally competent manager differ in at least two
ways. First, Bartlett and Ghoshal adopt a role-oriented view, whereas Adler and
Bartholomew focus on the competencies managers need. Second, Adler
and Bartholomew suggest that all managers become “globalized,” while Bartlett
and Ghoshal argue that global management requires a team of managers who per-
form different functions and roles (and who require significantly different sets of
competencies).62

Spreitzer, McCall, and Mahoney offer a third point of view on international
competencies.63 They argue that it is important to focus on future challenges that
may require different competencies than those required today. Therefore, Spreit-
zer and colleagues emphasize competencies involved in learning from experience as a
part of the set of competencies used to identify international executive potential
and develop effective international managers. Spreitzer et al. identify fourteen
dimensions that can predict international executive potential. The list includes:

• Eight end-state competency dimensions—for example, sensitivity to cultural differ-

ences, business knowledge, courage to take a stand, bringing out the best in
people, acting with integrity, insight, commitment to success, and risk taking

• Six learning-oriented dimensions—for example, use of feedback, cultural adven-

turousness, seeking opportunities to learn, openness to criticism, feedback
seeking, and flexibility

These authors developed an instrument, called Prospector, that rates managers
on these dimensions to identify which managers have the greatest potential to be
effective international executives. Using over 800 managers from various levels

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

452 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

of six international firms in twenty-one countries, Spreitzer and colleagues pro-
vide evidence of the validity and reliability of the Prospector instrument as a way
to predict international executive success.

The value of the approach taken by Spreitzer and colleagues is that it (1) gives
HRD professionals ideas about what dimensions international management devel-
opment programs should address, as well as possible ways to select which managers
should participate in and most benefit from these activities, (2) reminds HRD pro-
fessionals to consider future challenges managers may face that may take them
beyond the competencies that have been needed in the past, and (3) provides an
excellent model for how HRD professionals can take a scientific approach to iden-
tifying and generating supporting evidence for the sets of competencies they will
use as the basis of management development.

Our purpose in raising these three points of view is not to suggest which is
“correct” or would make the better foundation for describing the managerial job
and the development of managers (although the method used by Spreitzer and
colleagues would seem to be the most worthy of emulation).64 These models (as
well as other ideas about achieving global competency) require further research,
testing, and modification.65 These approaches illustrate how the global environ-
ment can impact the approach taken to developing an organization’s managers.
In addition, they underscore the need to consider an organization’s business strat-
egy and environment as foundations for management development efforts.

What Competencies Will Future Managers Need?

Just as Spreitzer and colleagues include consideration of learning-related dimen-
sions to address competency areas that international managers will need in the
future, other researchers are trying to estimate the competencies managers will
need to navigate their careers in the twenty-first century.66 For example, Allred,
Snow, and Miles argue that new organizational structures demand new sets of
managerial competencies.67 Based on a survey of managers, HR executives, and
recruiters, Allred and colleagues conclude that five categories of KSAOs will be
important for managerial careers in this new century: (1) a knowledge-based
technical specialty, (2) cross-functional and international experience, (3) collabo-
rative leadership, (4) self-management skills, and (5) personal traits, including
integrity, trustworthiness, and flexibility.

We mention this example to encourage HRD professionals to consider the
question of what future competencies managers will need. It is important that man-
agement development activities prepare managers for the future. Estimates will have
to be made and should include trends and industry-specific issues that will likely
affect the businesses that managers will have to manage. Most of all, this means that
management development should be seen as a long-term process. Management devel-
opment programs and the development process should not be seen as finished pro-
ducts, but as organic works in progress that are regularly evaluated and modified as
trends, strategies, and conditions warrant. This approach is already being used in
many organizations, including 3M, General Electric, TRW, and Motorola.68

Having explored the nature of the management job and the competencies
that managing requires, we turn our attention to the issue of making manage-
ment development strategic.

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 453 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

MAKING MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC

We have noted that management development should be tied to an organiza-
tion’s structure and strategy for accomplishing its business goals. Recall that this
point was made back in Chapter 1, as we discussed the learning and performance
wheel coming out of the ASTD study.69 Before we describe the management
development practices organizations use, it is useful to examine how these activ-
ities can be framed and delivered in a way that ensures that this strategic focus is
maintained.70

Seibert, Hall, and Kram suggest that three desired linkages should exist
between an organization’s strategy and its management development activities:
(1) the link between the business environment and business strategy, (2) the
link between business strategy and the organization’s management development
strategy, and (3) the link between the management development strategy and
management development activities.71 Based on an examination of management
development practices at twenty-two leading organizations, Seibert et al. con-
clude that these organizations pay attention to the first and last links, but the
middle linkage between the business strategy and the management development
strategy is weak. They suggest that this linkage is weak because the HRD func-
tion has too often focused on itself rather than its customer, has been unable to
respond rapidly enough to meet customer needs, and has a tendency to see a
false dichotomy between developing individuals and conducting business.

Seibert and colleagues find that some organizations, such as 3M and Motor-
ola, do make this link, by making sure that strategic business issues drive man-
agement development, ensuring that HRD professionals provide a timely
response to business needs, and by integrating management development as a
natural part of doing business. Based on their review, they propose four guiding
principles that can help HRD professionals make the necessary strategic links:

1. Begin by moving out and up to business strategy—this involves viewing the
HRD professional’s role primarily as implementing strategy, and secondarily
as a developer of managers. Practical suggestions include becoming inti-
mately familiar with an organization’s strategic objectives and business issues,
using these as a starting point for identifying management behaviors and
competencies, and looking for developmental opportunities within the
activities needed to accomplish strategic objectives.

2. Put job experiences before classroom activities, not vice versa—this involves using job
experiences as the central developmental activity, with classroom activities play-
ing the role of identifying, processing, and sharing the learning that is taking
place on the job. This assumes that on-the-job experiences will be actively man-
aged to ensure that learning will take place and strategic needs will be addressed.

3. Be opportunistic—ensure that management development is flexible and open to
respond to the business needs and issues an organization is facing and will likely
face. This involves moving away from elaborate, rigid programs to programs that
can change and are built to be responsive to the organization’s changing needs.

4. Provide support for experience-based learning—this involves creating a culture
that expects, supports, and rewards learning as a part of day-to-day

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

454 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

challenges and that reinforces individuals for taking control of their own
development as managers.

5. Burack, Hochwarter, and Mathys offer another approach to strategic manage-
ment development.72 Using a review of so-called “world-class” organiza-
tions, Burack et al. identify seven themes common to strategic management
development: (1) a linkage between management development and business
plans and strategies; (2) seamless programs, which cut across hierarchical and
functional boundaries; (3) a global orientation and a cross-cultural approach;
(4) individual learning focused within organizational learning; (5) a recogni-
tion of the organization’s culture and ensuring that the management develop-
ment design fits within and creates or supports the desired culture; (6) a
career development focus; and (7) an approach built on empirically deter-
mined core competencies.

The ideas offered by these authors highlight the strategic issues and offer
common practices used in respected organizations.73 They are not time-tested
blueprints for success. Furthermore, the “best practices” and “leading organiza-
tions” approach to identifying principles and actions should be viewed with
some caution. What is found is determined by whom the researchers have cho-
sen to include in their sample and what they were able to discover. As was the
case with organizations profiled in the best-selling book In Search of Excellence,
not all organizations that meet the criteria for inclusion when the study is done
continue to meet the criteria in later years.74 The environment we live in is too
turbulent for any set of principles to hold true in particular organizations for
too long.

Finally, the recommendations offered in such studies should be viewed as sug-
gestions and should not be copied unthinkingly.75 Other research along these lines
has been done, and continues to move our understanding forward concerning stra-
tegic management development.76 The authors of the studies we cited remind
readers that it is the practitioners’ responsibility to ensure that what is done within
their organizations should be based on needs assessment and a thorough knowl-
edge of the organization and its environment.

MANAGEMENT EDUCATION

As defined earlier, management education involves activities designed to help
participants gain a broad range of conceptual knowledge and skills in formal
classroom situations, most typically from degree-granting institutions. Manage-
ment education continues to be an extremely popular activity. Enrollments in
bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in the United States have grown rapidly
since the 1980s.77 It is estimated that approximately 348,000 bachelor’s degrees,
168,000 master’s degrees, and 2,100 doctoral degrees were awarded in business
during the academic year ending in 2009.78 Business degrees remain by a wide
margin the most popular bachelor’s degree awarded in the United States, the
second most popular master’s degree (behind education), and the eighth most
popular doctoral degree.79 Excluding the more specialized doctoral programs,
management education activities can be grouped into two categories:

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 455 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

1. Bachelor’s or master’s programs in business administration (B.B.A. or
M.B.A.) offered at colleges and universities

2. Executive education, which can range from condensed M.B.A. programs to
short courses delivered by colleges and universities, consulting firms, private
institutes, and professional and industry associations

Each category is discussed next.

BACHELOR’S OR MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMS
IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Traditional management education offered at four-year colleges and universities,
leading to a bachelor’s or master’s degree, generally focuses on management
knowledge and general concepts. While there has been some debate as to whether
to focus such management education programs on providing primarily conceptual
knowledge (e.g., market research techniques, planning and decision models) or
developing the skills (e.g., communication, interpersonal) that managers need to
be successful, most business school programs seek to provide both. The curricula
of many M.B.A. and B.B.A. programs follow the accreditation standards issued by
the main accrediting body in management education, the Association to Advance
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). The AACSB distinguishes
between bachelor’s and master’s education in terms of scope. It sees bachelor’s
education as providing a “broad range of knowledge and skills as a basis for careers
in business,” and master’s programs as educating “at a professional level that
includes both the accumulation of knowledge and abilities for participation in the
business world and in understanding of how to evaluate knowledge claims in their
area of focus” (pp. 58-59).80 The AACSB standards are mission based, in that they
provide for flexibility in program content, structure, and delivery based on an insti-
tution’s mission (e.g., the degree of emphasis on teaching and research).

According to the AACSB curriculum standards, the curricula of both bache-
lor’s and master’s programs should provide an understanding of issues that affect
organizations. In the recently revised AACSB standards, it is stated that “Normally,
the curriculum management process will result in undergraduate and master’s level
general management degree programs that will include learning experiences in
such management-specific knowledge and skills areas as:

• Ethical and legal responsibilities in organizations and society
• Financial theories, analysis, reporting, and markets
• Creation of value through the integrated production and distribution of

goods, services, and information

• Group and individual dynamics in organizations
• Statistical data analysis and management science as they support decision

making processes throughout an organization

• Information technologies as they influence the structure and processes of

organizations and economies, and as they influence the roles and techniques
of management

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

456 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

• Domestic and global economic environments of organizations
• Other management-specific knowledge and abilities as identified by the

school”81

Business schools were criticized during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The crit-
icism prompted a comprehensive review of business school training by the AACSB,
which addressed concerns that business schools were not satisfying the needs of
organizations in terms of providing students with the education needed to become
effective managers.82 Concerns focused on the lack of cross-functional integration in
coursework (e.g., finance, human resource management), perceptions of graduates’
levels of “soft” skills (e.g., communication, interpersonal), lack of an international
perspective, and a lack of breadth in the students’ preparation (i.e., too much focus
on business issues at the expense of providing a broad education). Business schools
have been urged to modify their curricula to address these shortcomings.83 These
recommendations have far-reaching consequences both in terms of knowledge of
subject matter needed by the faculty to develop the content of these programs and
the educational techniques needed to deliver them.

Business schools have responded in many different ways to the challenge.
For example, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania became
one of the first MBA programs to overhaul its curriculum to meet what are per-
ceived to be the realities of doing business in the next century. Rather than
offering semester-long courses in separate disciplines, the Wharton program
offers courses in four 6-week modules that integrate the disciplines to solve pro-
blems. The revised program also places a heavy emphasis on the development of
“people skills,” practical problem solving, and acquiring a global perspective. The
curriculum, which was developed with the input of students, faculty, alumni,
futurists, CEOs, and corporate recruiters, became both a model to be emulated
and a stimulus for program innovations at other schools.84

Another example of innovation and change in business schools is the MBA
program redesign at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.85 This
program is designed to focus on learning outcomes, involve and serve the needs of
all stake holder groups (e.g., students, alumni, potential employers), stimulate stu-
dents to think about issues in novel ways, expand students’ capacity to think and
act creatively, and place faculty in the role of managers of learning rather than tea-
chers. The program has six elements: (1) a managerial assessment and development
course that provides students with a way to assess and develop the KSAOs relevant
to their management careers (using a competency-based approach); (2) development
of an individual learning plan; (3) Executive Action Teams, which are groups of
students who meet regularly with a local executive advisor to integrate learning
across courses and from students’ experiences; (4) eleven core courses in manage-
ment and business disciplines (e.g., accounting, finance, human resources, and
labor policy); (5) multidisciplinary perspective courses organized around themes
such as managing in a global economy, technology management, and the history
of industrial development; and (6) advanced elective courses.86 An evaluation
study conducted over a two-year period shows evidence that the outcome-
oriented, competency-based program “had a positive impact in helping students to
improve their abilities between the time of entry and graduation.”87

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 457 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

The Wharton and Case Western examples show the kinds of changes that have
been going on in business schools. Student input into a wide range of issues, efforts to
improve teaching and placement support, and cooperation with business have
become commonplace at many business schools. Innovations in teaching have also
been implemented. Team-oriented and applied projects and assignments are now
widely used. Many business schools use computer and telecommunication technol-
ogy as a central part of courses, and courses (and even entire programs) taught
completely online are becoming increasingly commonplace.88 Both the Journal of
Management Education and the Academy of Management Learning and Education regularly
include examples, ideas, and issues that management educators are developing and
debating to keep business education responsive, relevant, and effective.89

It should be noted that degree programs at both the graduate and undergraduate
levels should be seen as only one component of a manager’s development. It is unrea-
sonable to expect that education at these levels will result in a “whole manager” who
has all the KSAOs needed to manage effectively. At their best, business programs can
provide a valuable foundation for a manager’s development and a good way for prac-
ticing managers to reflect on their experiences and develop new skills and knowl-
edge. Graduates of such programs should be seen as “works-in-progress,” with the
potential to become effective managers with further development and experience.90

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Because of the length of time it can take to complete an MBA program and the
crowded lives of many full-time managers, many institutions, both academic and
otherwise, have developed a number of alternatives. These alternatives, which can
range from condensed MBA programs known as Executive MBAs (EMBAs), to
short courses on given topics and issues, to one-time sessions, can be referred to as
executive education programs. Executive education has become big business for the
universities and institutions that provide it. For example, INSEAD (in Fontainebleu,
France), Harvard, Wharton, Northwestern, and the University of Michigan earn
considerable annual revenue from their executive education programs.91

Executive MBA Programs. Thousands of executives attend executive MBA
(EMBA) programs at business schools worldwide each year. Most of these pro-
grams condense or accelerate the coursework, with courses meeting once per
week (typically on weekends). These programs typically are designed to be com-
pleted in two years. Students tend to be older, full-time managers from a variety
of organizations who have a significant amount of experience.

Advantages of EMBA programs include the opportunity to interact with
managers from other organizations, maximum input of new ideas, high quality
of instruction, and the prestige afforded by having a university affiliation. Com-
monly perceived disadvantages include inadequate exposure to information spe-
cific to an organization’s needs, the high price, and insufficient numbers of
instructors within a given program who are effective at teaching adults.92 In
addition, critics charge that some programs are merely watered-down versions
of MBA programs, with poor quality of instruction and lax admission standards,
with the primary goal of generating income for the school.93

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

458 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

Are EMBA programs an effective approach to developing managers? There
is little existing research to answer the question.94 Evaluations are generally based
on anecdotal information. Typical results of the evaluation studies of EMBA
programs indicate that participants are generally satisfied with their experience,
feeling that they have been broadened by their exposure to new ideas and peo-
ple, and have gained increased levels of self-confidence.95 Despite the lack of
hard evidence, organizations continue to support such programs.96

Most organizations use EMBA programs as one component of their execu-
tive development efforts in addition to other in-house and external activities
(e.g., succession planning, short courses).97 Organizations interested in using
EMBA programs should carefully examine their development needs and investi-
gate the programs they consider using. Discussions with administrators, faculty
members, and alumni can yield useful information, and there is now considerable
information available on the Internet.98

Other Approaches to Executive Education. Executive education need not
be as comprehensive as an MBA or EMBA program. Many providers offer courses
in a wide range of management topics. These courses are generally focused on a
particular topic, issue, or skill, and are freestanding (i.e., they do not exist within a
degree oriented curriculum). Before 1980, the dominant external provider of such
programs was the American Management Association (AMA), which continues to
offer hundreds of courses on a wide range of topics.99 The current picture is differ-
ent in that no single provider dominates the field. In addition to colleges and uni-
versities, organizations such as the Center for Creative Leadership, Wilson
Learning, industry associations, and a host of consultants offer courses that can be
used as part of a total management development program.

The intent of many courses is to mix theory with a great deal of practical
relevance in order to provide participants with information and tools that have
immediate application to their current jobs. Advances in telecommunications,
videoconferencing, and the Internet are making long-distance learning a growing
part of executive education that could lead to major changes in how executive
education is provided. In 2010, ASTD estimated that over 36 percent of all
training was delivered outside of the traditional instructor-led classroom (this
included distance education, instructor-less computer-based training, and other
non-classroom forms of training).100 Colleges and universities are finding a
growing market in beaming lectures and classes conducted by their “star” profes-
sors via satellite to remote locations (e.g., alumni clubs and company classrooms).

Advantages of using such courses offered by external providers include con-
trolling the costs of in-house courses, the specialized expertise of the provider,
the design and packaging of such courses, and a practitioner-oriented approach
(particularly among courses not offered by universities).101 In addition, satellite
courses can be delivered at the convenience of the client and do not require
participants to travel to attend the program.102 One of the significant disadvan-
tages of such courses is a lack of quality control. Operating in a highly competi-
tive environment, many of these providers are under pressure to stay in business
and may reduce their standards to ensure they generate sufficient business in the
short term. While market forces will eventually (and ideally) weed out the poor

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 459 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

quality programs, this may take time and many clients may purchase poor quality
courses in the process.103 Furthermore, as we discussed in Chapters 5 and 6, the
content of the course needs to be matched to the medium used to deliver it. For
example, given the current state of technology, satellite transmission may be bet-
ter suited for knowledge transmission (because it typically uses a lecture format,
with all of the associated advantages and disadvantages), whereas interpersonal
skills courses would generally be better conducted in person.104

One potential disadvantage to short courses offered by colleges and univer-
sities is a real or perceived lack of relevance and practical orientation. One way
some organizations are addressing these concerns is by working with colleges and
universities to customize courses that will meet their specific needs. Colleges and
universities are increasingly willing to customize courses to fit a particular client’s
needs. For example, Hoffman-LaRoche Inc., a New Jersey-based healthcare and
pharmaceutical company, had the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
customize a course to provide managers with training in strategic management of
technology, leadership, and quality.105 Although this approach may resolve the
issues of quality and relevance, it is expensive, with costs per program (e.g., a
three or four-day course) ranging from $50,000 to $80,000. Organizations inter-
ested in such an approach should shop comparatively by discussing their needs
with a variety of schools, explaining specifically what they want, and finding
out what the school can offer (i.e., in terms of times, locations, instructors) and
then negotiate to obtain a reasonable price.106

Customized or not, short courses offered by external providers are likely to
remain a significant part of the management development scene in the future,
especially in light of the convenience and variety of the options that are available.
One of the best ways an organization can ensure that it purchases courses that
will meet its needs is to conduct a thorough needs analysis and evaluate the pro-
grams both before and after they are used.

Regardless of the type of management education provided (bachelor’s,
MBA, EMBA, or other), the challenge facing all management educators today
is to ensure the timeliness and “value-added” of what is presented.107 Joseph
Alutto has referred to this as “Just-in-time management education in the 21st
century,” and this is a useful description of what organizations are seeking from
management education.108 As one example, Foster and Carboni recommend the
use of student-centered cases to promote leadership development among stu-
dents within the context of student groups used for course assignments.109 The
dynamic social, political, economic, and technological changes occurring today
require fundamental changes in the manner in which management education is
conducted.110 Expect further major changes in the shape and substance of man-
agement education in the coming years.

MANAGEMENT TRAINING AND EXPERIENCES

The vast majority of organizations provide training and on-the-job experiences as
part of their efforts to develop managers.111 Most organizations use a combination
of externally provided and internally developed courses and programs to achieve
this goal. In this section of the chapter, we focus briefly on company-specific

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

460 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

management training approaches. A wide variety of possibilities exist.112 To illus-
trate the options in use, we will discuss three approaches: company-designed
courses, corporate universities, and on-the-job experiences.

Company-Designed Courses

Organizations frequently design their own courses and seminars as one way to
develop their managers. Such courses have the advantage of being tailored to the
specific issues, skills, and individual attributes of the organization and its managers.
These efforts can range from a specific course focusing on one skill or issue (e.g.,
evaluating employee performance, budgeting) to a series of interconnected courses
(e.g., a two-week-long series of workshops to expose key non-managers to all com-
pany divisions and products and acquaint them with the challenges the company
faces). For example, communications firm Inter-Tel was recognized for the quality
of its company and industry-specific training courses.113 General Electric (GE) runs
a series of courses to prepare managers to compete successfully in a global environ-
ment. The program, offered at the company’s Crotonville, New York, manage-
ment development center, is made up of a core curriculum that includes courses
offered in a five-stage developmental sequence—Corporate Entry Leadership
Conferences, New Manager Development Courses, Advanced Functional Courses,
Executive Programs, and Officers’ Workshops. This program services employees
ranging from new college hires to corporate officers.114 The courses are tailored
to the challenges faced by GE’s managers, including the use of GE-specific issues
to provide an opportunity for participants to solve problems.

The issues in designing and implementing such courses are the same as for
any HRD program. It is particularly important to ensure that such courses fit
within an overall framework for developing managers. The idea is to avoid
redundancy and help participants see the relevance of the courses to their overall
developmental plan. It also helps managers, who are responsible for developing
their subordinates, to understand the relationships of the courses the organization
offers to the overall development effort. For example, GE makes clear its expec-
tation that 80 percent of development occurs through on-the-job experience,
with only 20 percent taking place through formal development (e.g., such as
the Crotonville courses).115 This perspective emphasizes to managers that the
bulk of their developmental efforts should be focused on providing subordinates
with meaningful developmental experiences on the job.

Some organizations go beyond their own managers as participants in their
management development courses. For example, GE invites managers and offi-
cials from key overseas customers (and potential customers) to attend customized
programs alongside GE managers. The purpose of these programs is to develop
the skills and talents of the managers involved, form relationships that can lead to
greater cooperation and increased business opportunities, and learn the way other
organizations and countries conduct business.116

Corporate Universities

A large number of organizations have concluded that a significant component of
their management development should include a company academy or college in
which all managers at certain levels are required to complete a specific curriculum.117

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 461 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

Organizations that have taken this approach include GE, IBM, McDonald’s,
Motorola, Intel, Xerox, Schwan Foods, and Heineken. The facilities used for these
academies can be quite elaborate (e.g., hundred-acre, landscaped campuses with mul-
tiple buildings and residential facilities located away from other company facilities).
They have a specific educational mission geared toward the organization’s specific
needs and preferred ways of doing things. For example, McDonald’s, the worldwide
fast-food chain, teaches managers its approach to ensuring quality, service, and clean-
liness at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, Illinois. The courses at Hamburger
University include operational procedures that reinforce the organization’s philoso-
phy. Hamburger University uses a wide range of training methods, including lecture
and discussion, audiovisuals, and hands-on experiences with equipment.118

Xerox Corporation devotes a portion of its over 2,000-acre corporate living,
learning, and fitness center in Leesburg, Virginia, to its corporate education center.
The center is capable of handling 1,000 students at a time and offers curricula in
sales training, service training, and management training. The management training
curriculum focuses on teaching participants about the business, their jobs as man-
agers, and about themselves. Faculty for the center is drawn from the company’s
employees, and course design is performed by a group of professionals (Educational
Services) specifically trained in course design; they have access to production facili-
ties capable of creating courses using a wide range of technologies (e.g., video,
computer-assisted instruction). Members of this group identify needs and develop
courses in collaboration with clients, subject matter experts, and instructors.119

While not all company academies are as elaborate as those run by McDonald’s
or Xerox, they are an expensive component of management development. Some
organizations permit members of outside organizations to use their facilities and
attend their courses for a fee when space permits. Critics charge that the standard-
ized curricula at corporate academies can lead to problems (e.g., unresponsiveness
to the organization’s needs, detachment from the realities of the operating divi-
sions). Eurich suggests, however, that such curricula can be useful if it transmits
knowledge and skills that all participants at a particular level should know, and
that some of the problems that accompany this approach can be mitigated by a
“vigilant management and training staff to ensure that a curriculum admits new
ideas and responds to change” (p. 167).120 It should be noted that programs at
many corporate universities have kept pace with the changes going on in the rest
of HRD and management development, including changing delivery methods and
an emphasis on serving the organization’s strategic needs.121 Numerous articles
describe the developments in corporate universities.122 Corporate universities
have been proposed as a catalyst for strategic human resource development.123

On-the-Job Experiences

On-the-job experiences play an important role in the development of managers
and executives.124 Many organizations use job assignments and experiences as an
explicit part of their management development efforts. However, despite the
importance of on-the-job experience to management development, too often
organizations leave such development to chance, hoping managers discover the
lessons to be learned on their own. In addition, there is not a large body of
research concerning how these events influence development and how we can

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

462 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

make the most of such experiences.125 Some observers have noted that many on-
the-job experiences tend to reinforce old attitudes and behaviors, rather than
encourage managers to adopt new ones that can make them more effective.126
HRD scholars are increasingly studying “informal learning,” that is, what Rob
Poell and colleagues have called “forms of learning occurring in organizations with-
out an expert or trainer in sight” (p. 530).127

Clearly, research on the types of events that have developmental potential, the
lessons they can teach, and how such lessons can be learned is needed if we are to
harness the power of experience. An important step in that direction is research on
the role of experience in executive development conducted at the Center for Cre-
ative Leadership (CCL).128 Researchers from CCL initially studied 191 successful
executives from six major organizations by asking them to describe the key events
in their careers and explain what they learned from them. These inquiries yielded
over 1,500 lessons executives learned. Content analysis of these statements results
in thirty-two types of lessons that can be grouped into five themes: setting and
implementing agendas, handling relationships, basic values, executive tempera-
ment, and personal awareness. The developmental events are summarized into
five categories: setting the stage, leading by persuasion, leading on the line, when
other people matter, and hardships. Table 13-2 lists the themes and the lessons that
make up each theme.

McCall, Lombardo, and Morrison state that an individual’s early work expe-
rience and first supervisory job are two events that help in setting and agendas.
Having a project assignment or serving on a task force, as well as switching from
a line to a staff position, can assist a manager with handling relationships. McCall
and colleagues observe that the lessons learned from on the-job events are hard-
won, involving emotion, reflection, and assistance from others to extract the
meaning.129 They conclude that it is management’s responsibility (shared with
the individual) to be vigilant for opportunities to develop subordinates (e.g.,
through task-force assignments and challenging assignments), and to provide
the necessary support, resources, feedback, and time necessary for subordinates
to learn from these events. While recognizing that firm conclusions are hard to
come by, McCall and colleagues suggest that an effective management develop-
ment system is one that is characterized by the following:

1. Opportunism—taking advantage of opportunities for growth and learning

2. Individualism—taking into account the unique attributes of the individuals
being developed

3. Long-term perspective—taking the view that developing managers is a multiyear
process (e.g., 10–20 years)

4. Encouragement of self-motivation—encouraging the individuals being developed
to be self-motivated

5. Online approach—centered on learning on the job

The events approach described by the CCL research is intriguing and pre-
sents a variety of useful suggestions for using experiences deliberately to develop
managers. We believe this research is an important step forward in this area. One
way to make better use of on-the-job experiences for management development

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 463

Setting and Implementing Agendas TABLE 13-2
Potential Lessons
• Technical/professional skills of Experience
• All about the business one is in
• Strategic thinking PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
• Shouldering full responsibility
• Building and using structure and control systems
• Innovative problem-solving methods

Handling Relationships

• Handling political situations
• Getting people to implement solutions
• What executives are like and how to work with them
• Strategies of negotiation
• Dealing with people over whom you have no authority
• Understanding other people’s perspectives
• Dealing with conflict
• Directing and motivating subordinates
• Developing other people
• Confronting subordinate performance problems
• Managing former bosses and peers

Basic Values

• You can’t manage everything all alone
• Sensitivity to the human side of management
• Basic management values

Executive Temperament

• Being tough when necessary
• Self-confidence
• Coping with situations beyond your control
• Persevering through adversity
• Coping with ambiguous situations
• Use (and abuse) of power

Personal Awareness

• The balance between work and personal life
• Knowing what really excites you about work
• Personal limits and blind spots
• Taking charge of your career
• Recognizing and seizing opportunities

SOURCE: Reprinted with permission from Key Event in Executives’ Lives, Technical Report No. 32
(Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership, 1987), p. 227. Copyright © 1987 by Center for Creative
Leadership. Reproduced by permission.

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

464 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

is to have a method to assess the developmental components of jobs, and this is
available in the Developmental Challenge Profile (DCP).130 The DCP is a
ninety-six-item questionnaire based on the research investigating job features
that can be developmental.131 It contains fifteen scales organized around the fol-
lowing three categories of developmental features:

• Job transition—unfamiliar responsibilities, proving yourself
• Task-related characteristics—which includes nine scales in three areas:

1. Creating change—developing new directions, inherited problems, reduc-
tion decisions, problems with employees

2. High level of responsibility—high stakes, managing business diversity, job
overload, handling external pressure

3. Nonauthority relationships—influencing without authority

• Obstacles—adverse business conditions, lack of top management support, lack

of personal support, difficult boss

The research done by McCauley and colleagues on the DCP finds that it has
high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and validity evidence supports
the relationship of the majority of the scales to “perceptions of the learning
of fundamental managerial skills and ways of thinking” (p. 556). McCauley and
colleagues suggest that the DCP has at least two practical uses for management
development: (1) DCP feedback can provide managers with a better understanding
of the learning opportunities that are available within their jobs, and (2) the DCP
can be used to identify components that can be designed into jobs to improve the
opportunities for development. We see the DCP as another useful tool available to
HRD professionals to assess workplace learning.132

In addition to the “events” view, there are at least two other approaches to using
on-the-job experiences systematically in management development: mentoring and
action learning. Mentoring was discussed in Chapter 12, so we will not revisit that
topic here. Action learning is a concept first attributed to British physicist Reg
Revans that has become increasingly common worldwide.133 Originally developed
as a way to encourage line managers to provide input to modify operating systems,134
action learning as it is currently practiced involves having participants select an orga-
nizational problem, write a case study describing the problem, and meet with a
group of other managers who face similar problems to discuss ways the problem
can be dealt with.135 This idea is sort of a “living case” approach, where instead of
analyzing situations that have been resolved in the past, participants deal with ongo-
ing problems and issues. The most widely cited example of action learning (and
likely the largest implementation) is the WorkOut program at GE.136

Among the potential advantages of an action-learning approach is the dis-
covery of a structured way to examine and analyze on-the-job events. Action
learning also provides the opportunity to motivate participants to seek additional
development (e.g., negotiation skills) that will help them resolve the type of
problem discussed. In addition, because participants focus on existing issues,
their motivation to learn and seek further development may be stronger. And,
in the process, action-learning participants are actually solving problems and
implementing solutions, making management development an integral part of
strategy implementation and yielding the organization tangible benefits beyond

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 465 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

development. Most of the writing about action learning has been descriptive and
anecdotal rather than empirical, but action learning is clearly a technique that is
gaining wide use and positive reviews.137 Lyle Yorks and colleagues conducted
a well-done qualitative research study on action learning in a multinational
corporation.138 Deborah Waddill demonstrates the effectiveness of action learn-
ing in a web-based management development program.139 Other articles provide
guidance for using action learning to extend learning beyond the traditional
classroom environment.140 Joe Raelin proposes that action learning be used to
promote collaborative leadership.141 Alan Mumford has provided helpful guid-
ance on the uses and boundaries of action learning.142

A key to using on-the-job experiences for developmental purposes is to ensure
that time and techniques are provided so that opportunities for learning are not
overlooked.143 Several of the examples we have cited so far in the chapter highlight
ways this can be addressed. In addition, it is important to build time and methods
for reflecting on work experiences into the management development process (and
day-to-day work) to ensure that learning occurs.144 Marilyn Wood Daudelin
describes a number of methods for individual reflection (e.g., journal writing, busi-
ness writing, assessment instruments, meditation, and spontaneous thinking during
repetitive activities such as jogging) and reflection with another person or a small
group (e.g., performance appraisal discussions, counseling sessions, project review
meetings, mentoring, and informal discussions with friends or colleagues).145

In summary, there are a variety of ways organizations can systematically use on-
the-job experiences to develop managers. While there is much research that still
needs to be done, on-the-job experience should be a significant component of an
organization’s management development strategy. We recommend that organiza-
tions examine the opportunities available to them in this area to determine how
they can make the most of experiences in their managers’ development, especially
in conjunction with the management education and management training efforts
described earlier.146

EXAMPLES OF APPROACHES USED
TO DEVELOP MANAGERS

There are many options for conducting management training and development.
Many training techniques are available (see Chapters 5 and 6), including case stud-
ies, experiential exercises, games, outdoor education, and assessment centers.147 In
addition, there are a whole host of training topics, including leadership, motiva-
tion, interpersonal skills, decision making, cultural and global training, and ethics,
as well as technical knowledge. We will describe two commonly used manage-
ment development programs: leadership training and the use of behavior modeling
to develop interpersonal and other skills.

Leadership Training

Leadership has been one of the most heavily researched and popularly discussed
topics in management and psychology.148 As any organizational behavior text
will attest, there is a wide array of leadership theories seeking to describe and
predict effective leadership attributes.149 There is a widespread belief that leader-
ship skills are essential to effective management, especially for organizations that

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

466 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

are trying to implement changes.150 At any time, dozens of books and popular
press articles are available to managers to help them learn how they can become
more effective leaders. Some of the problems with advice in the popular press on
leadership are that it is usually anecdotal, lacks a sound theoretical basis, and is
often contradictory. Leadership training is one of the most commonly offered
forms of training. We will discuss how many organizations use a multifaceted
approach to developing leaders that is based on the notion of transformational
leadership, as well as a program focused on leaders developing other leaders.

Transformational Leadership: A Missing Piece of the Leadership
Puzzle? For many people, a leader is someone who captures our attention, pre-
sents us with a vision of what could be, inspires us to pursue the vision, and shows
us the way to get there.151 These ideas are at the heart of what Bernard Bass refers
to as transformational leadership.152 The main elements of transformational lead-
ership include charisma (offering a vision and raising the self-expectations of fol-
lowers), intellectual stimulation (helping followers change their assumptions and
focus on rational solutions), and individualized consideration (e.g., providing
coaching and individual development). This view of leadership is in contrast to a
transactional approach, where the emphasis in on the exchange relationship
between leader and follower, that is, “You give me your time and effort, and I’ll
give you this salary, the chance for promotion, and so on.”

Transformational leadership seems to fit most people’s ideas of what “real leaders”
do (especially when they are leading an organizational change effort; organizational
change will be discussed in Chapter 14). There is growing evidence that transforma-
tional leadership is related to organizational outcomes.153 Transformational leadership
training has been developed and tested.154 For example, Barling and colleagues oper-
ationalized transformational leadership training into a one-day group-training session
followed by four monthly individual booster sessions.155 The emphasis was placed on
helping participants become more intellectually stimulating (a key transformational
leadership element). In the one-day session, participants examined their own views
of leadership, received a presentation about transformational and other types of lead-
ership, learned about goal setting, and used role plays to practice goal setting and other
leadership behaviors within the context of the organization’s mission statement. The
booster sessions consisted of goal setting to improve participants’ leadership behavior
and generating and reviewing action plans. In a two-group pretest-post-test study of
managers (total N = 20) in a bank branch setting, managers in the training group were
perceived by their subordinates as higher on all three aspects of transformational lead-
ership. In addition, subordinates of the trained managers showed increased organiza-
tional commitment, and there was evidence to suggest that branches in which the
trained managers worked had better financial outcomes.

There has been a large amount of research on transformational leadership.
For example, the journal Leadership Quarterly has devoted considerable attention
to charismatic and transformational leadership theories.156 Some important criti-
cisms have been made of theory and research in this area,157 and responses and
new directions have been proposed.158 A quasi-experimental study by Parry and
Sinha presents positive outcomes from transformational leadership training on
both leader and follower behaviors.159 In general, this line of research offers a
positive example of taking a theoretically based, scientific approach to leadership

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 467 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

development.160 The exercise at the end of this chapter asks you to profile
someone you think is an effective leader.

Leadership Development: The State of the Practice. Leadership develop-
ment in organizations, although not always theory-based, has seen a number of
high profile changes that have been driven by organizations’ need to compete in
a turbulent, uncertain environment. While many examples have appeared in the
popular and practitioner literature, we will describe two approaches to give the
reader a sense of how practical concerns drive the state of the practice.

One approach to leadership development can be referred to as leaders developing
leaders.161 This trend is signified by the direct, frequent involvement of CEOs and
senior managers in developing a cadre of leaders within their organizations. For
example, at organizations such as Intel, PepsiCo, GE, AlliedSignal, Shell Oil, Cap-
ital One, and the U.S. Navy SEALs, the chief officers see leadership development
as one of their primary responsibilities.162 Cohen and Tichy argue that transforma-
tional leadership is the type of leadership that investors are demanding of corporate
executives.163 After investigating best practices in leadership development
approaches at a group of top organizations, Cohen and Tichy conclude that the
key to these approaches is that leaders must develop leaders. This involves the
following ideas on why and how to develop leaders (pp. 60–61):

• Organizations are judged by their sustained success
• Winning companies have leaders at every level
• The best way to get more leaders is to have leaders develop leaders
• To develop others, leaders must have a teachable point of view
• Leaders create stories about the future of their organizations

Two of these ideas deserve special note: a teachable point of view and sto-
rytelling. According to Cohen and Tichy, a teachable point of view focuses on
four leadership areas: ideas about products, services, and the marketplace; a real-
world explanation of a leader’s values; edge (making the tough, go-no go deci-
sions); and energy (motivating and energizing others). The teachable point of
view must then be articulated in the form of a business-oriented story based
on the leader’s experience. Stories are an engaging, personal way to communi-
cate a leader’s vision for the future.164 The key elements of a leader’s story
appear to be making a case for change, presenting an idea of where the organi-
zation is headed, and showing how the organization will get there.

An example of a leadership development approach based on these ideas occurs
through the Learning Center at Shell Oil Company.165 The key role for HRD
professionals in this approach is to “help leaders craft their teaching approaches.
That requires HRD staff to play a different role by collaborating with the leaders
and ‘driving’ the cultural mindset in which teaching and leadership are intertwined”
(p. 73). Recently, Edward Betof has also written on the topic of “leaders as teachers.”166

A second approach to leadership development occurs via the Center for
Creative Leadership’s LeaderLab.167 The goal of the program is to prepare and
encourage leaders to act more effectively in the leadership situations they face.168
The program is based on research done at CCL and elsewhere on the nature of
leadership and leader development. It lasts six months, beginning with a

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

468 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

weeklong session in which participants undergo a range of assessment and feed-
back exercises (including 360-degree feedback obtained in advance from their
superiors, subordinates, and peers) and development of an action plan for leader-
ship improvement. These sessions include working in teams with “change part-
ners,” action-oriented exercises, and nontraditional learning activities such as
creating pieces of art. A second four-day session occurs three months later, in
which the manager’s progress and learning over the three months is reviewed,
and the action plan is revised accordingly. The revised action plan is then imple-
mented over the remaining three months.169

These are only two examples of the kinds of approaches organizations
are taking to develop leaders. Given the importance many organizations and
stakeholders place on leadership, it is critical that HRD professionals design
and deliver leadership development approaches that advance their own organi-
zation’s ability to compete and blend relevant theory and methodology with
ongoing efforts at evaluation and future improvement.170 For example, authors
such as Judi Brownell have argued for a move from a focus on transformational
leadership to a greater focus on servant leadership, and Robert Liden and col-
leagues have created a servant leadership scale, which they validated and com-
pared to measures of leader-member exchange, as well as of transformational
leadership.171 For a discussion of the challenges and possibilities for improving
ethics education in leadership development, please see the boxed insert below.

As an example of a business school that has addressed such issues, Brett Math-
erne and colleagues discuss the “Walk the Talk” program used at the University of
Dayton.179 The program gathers students, business executives, and faculty for lunch-
eons where ethical dilemmas are presented in case vignettes. Business executives lead

Management Education, Leadership Development, and Ethics:
How Do They Fit Together?

There has been considerable criticism of business Brownell has proposed a “partnership model,”
whereby global leaders are developed through a com-
schools in general, and MBA programs in particular,
for not doing enough to “instill norms of ethical behav- bined effort of business educators, business leaders,
ior” in business school graduates.172 In 2006, both the
Academy of Management Learning & Education and and HR professionals. She focuses on competencies

the Journal of Management Education published spe- (presented above), but also on individual character as a
cial issues on teaching business ethics.173 In these, for
central element of such education. In response to the
example, Giacolone and Thompson called for a shift
many recent scandals involving business leaders, she
from an organization-centered to a more humanistic, writes: “Many would argue that character—an innate
sense of fairness, honesty, respect for others, and
values-based worldview behind the teaching of busi- humility—is becoming the most resonant quality for
ness ethics.174 Dean and Beggs surveyed business global leaders in this century.”176 Srikant Datar and
colleagues write of the need for MBA programs to
faculty, and found that most believed that ethics was a
focus both on skills and cultivating values, attitudes,
values-driven, internal construct, and yet taught and beliefs.177 Others have written on the role of

ethics primarily using an external, compliance-driven HRD professionals in organizational efforts to address
approach, for example: “Here are the laws and codes ethical issues in their organization.178
of conduct you should follow.”175 Separately, Judi

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 469 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

the discussions of the case vignettes. This can be seen as a form of a “live” or “local”
case, similar to what is recommended by proponents of action learning.180 Sufficient
complexity is present in these cases to make clear that, while some ethical areas are
black and white, many are gray.181 Furthermore, the luncheons are integrated into
the capstone strategic management course required of all business students.
Responses by all involved have been very positive. Although there are many diffi-
cult issues that must be addressed, it seems imperative in today’s business environ-
ment that issues of ethics, character, and integrity be addressed in any efforts to
develop future leaders.182 It is our hope that these and other on-going efforts to
address ethical issues in management education/leadership development will make
a difference—for organizations and society as a whole—in the years to come.183

Behavior Modeling Training

Behavior modeling training is a popular training technique that has been used pri-
marily to train people to perform manual, interpersonal, and cognitive skills.184
The technique is based on Bandura’s social learning theory, which is a central the-
ory for HRD.185 Goldstein and Sorcher were the first to apply social learning the-
ory to supervisory training.186 The underlying rationale for this form of training is
that people can learn by observing other people (models) perform a task provided
they are shown clearly what the components of the behavior are, remember what
the behavior is, actually perform the behavior, and are motivated to use what they
have learned.187

Behavior modeling typically involves five steps: modeling, retention,
rehearsal, feedback, and transfer of training. Modeling is critical, and during the
modeling phase, trainees are often shown a video clip in which a model performs
the behavior to be learned.188 The desired behavior is broken into a series of
discrete learning points, or key behaviors that make up the overall behavior.
For example, if supervisors are being trained to handle employee complaints,
the video shows a supervisor handling complaints in the desired manner. The
learning points for this behavior might include:

1. Listen openly

2. Do not speak until the employee has had his or her say

3. Avoid reacting emotionally (do not get defensive)

4. Ask for the employee’s expectations about a solution to the problem
5. Agree on specific steps to be taken and specific deadlines189

In the retention phase, trainees perform activities to enhance the memory of
what they have observed. These activities include reviewing the learning points,
discussing the rationale underlying each point, and talking over the behaviors the
model performed to illustrate those points. In the rehearsal phase, each trainee
role-plays the desired behavior with another trainee. For example, each trainee
learning how to handle employee complaints gets an opportunity to role play
resolving a complaint from another trainee representing the complaining
employee. During the feedback phase, each trainee receives feedback on his or
her performance based on what was done well and what should be improved.
Finally, in the transfer of training phase, trainees are encouraged to practice

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

470 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

newly learned behavior on the job. In some behavior modeling programs, trainees
regroup later to discuss problems and successes in using their newly learned skills.

Two examples of behavior modeling training applied to the mastery of com-
puter software programs are reported by Gist and colleagues, and Simon and
Werner.190 In the Gist and colleagues study, trainees observe a videotape in
which a model illustrates the steps involved in performing each task to be
learned. The video also reviews key learning points and shows trainees the
responses to expect from the program on the computer monitor. Following a
demonstration of each step, the trainer stops the videotape to allow trainees to
perform it, with the responses from the program on the computer monitor pro-
viding feedback as to the correctness of the trainee’s performance. In the Simon
and Werner study, Navy personnel are trained to use a new computer system
using three different approaches: a lecture approach (using Microsoft Power
Point™ slides), a self-paced approach (using individual workbooks), and a
behavior modeling approach, where the instructor demonstrates (“models”) the
correct procedures on a computer display viewed by all trainees. Both learning
and behavioral retention were significantly higher for trainees who received
the behavior modeling approach than for those trained using the other two
approaches.

Strong research evidence supports the effectiveness of behavior modeling
training.191 Burke and Day’s meta-analysis of management training found that
behavior modeling was one of the most effective management training techni-
ques for learning and behavioral change.192 Other meta-analytic research finds
similar effects for learning and behavioral change, and also sizable effects from
behavior modeling interventions on various results measures (from productivity
changes to increased free-throw shooting accuracy for a women’s basketball
team).193 One of the reasons for the effectiveness of behavior modeling is that
it increases a trainee’s feelings of self-efficacy, which is one’s belief in his or her
capacity to perform a particular task.194 Individuals with high self-efficacy tend to
perform better than individuals with low self-efficacy.195

Research has suggested how behavior modeling works and how it can be
improved.196 For example, a series of studies demonstrates the importance of
learning points in the process. Learning points keyed to important behaviors and
demonstrated by the model result in greater recall and performance of those
behaviors.197 In addition, learning points generated by trainees lead to better per-
formance than learning points generated by “experts.”198

Baldwin examined two ways such training may be improved: by providing
multiple scenarios during training and by exposing trainees to both positive and
negative models.199 Baldwin suggests that providing multiple scenarios may
increase the chances trainees will generalize the skills they learn to apply them
to other situations. He also theorizes that providing negative models as well as
positive models will help trainees not only learn new behaviors but unlearn
prior, ineffective behaviors. Baldwin reports two significant findings: (1) that pro-
viding both positive and negative models leads to greater generalization than
using positive models only, but (2) that viewing only positive models leads only
to greater reproduction of a behavior. These results suggest that different
approaches to using models in behavior modeling training may be needed,

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 471 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

depending on the goals of the training (e.g., reproducing a behavior in a partic-
ular type of situation or being able to use the behavior in a variety of situations).

Behavior modeling is not without its critics. Parry and Reich argue that the
technique can have several weaknesses, including the following:

1. Modeling uses simplistic behavior models.

2. Trainees may not get explanations of the theory underlying the need for the
behaviors being taught. For example, suppose the training session focuses on
handling abusive customers. If trainees are told they should let the customer
vent his feelings, they should be told why.

3. The classes may be boring because they follow a similar format and have all
trainees in a session perform the same role playing.

4. Examples of incorrect behavior are seldom used, even though they provide
opportunities for learning.

5. If verbal behavior is being taught, then the use of film or video may interfere
by adding extraneous stimuli. Written models may be better for these cases.

6. Many trainees engage in improvisational acting rather than true role playing.

7. While focusing on behaviors rather than underlying attitudes may be effective in
the short run, it is important to change attitudes as well. Otherwise, employees
will not stick with the newly learned behaviors over the long haul.200

Parry and Reich believe the technique can be effective if these limitations
are overcome. Rosenbaum replied to Parry and Reich’s criticisms by suggest-
ing, among other things, that models serve as points of reference, rather than
purporting to show the only way to handle a situation, and that modeling con-
forms to the tenets of adult learning.201 This type of debate, combined with
research on ways to improve modeling training, should lead to better ways of
using behavior modeling to help managers (and others) improve their interper-
sonal (and other) skills.202 Pescuric and Byham note that behavior modeling
training is also amenable to an interactive, computer-based self-study format.203
They suggest that classroom-based delivery, the traditional approach to behav-
ior modeling training, is only one of four options that can be used. The other
three include classroom training augmented by on-the-job practice under the
guidance of a coach; self-study of the principles, model, and application com-
ponents followed by practice in a classroom setting; and self-study followed
by on-the-job practice. Those wishing to use the technique should consult
Goldstein and Sorcher, Decker and Nathan, Silberman, and Fox for specifics
on how to develop such a program.204

DESIGNING EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

While this should not surprise you, management development programs need to
be constructed the way any sound HRD program is: through needs assessment,
design, implementation, and evaluation. The HRD process model (A DImE)
emphasized so heavily in previous chapters needs to be applied to management

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

472 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

education and development efforts as well. More specifically, the issues discussed
in this chapter lead to several recommendations:

1. Management development must be tied to an organization’s strategic plan to be
responsive to the needs of the organization and those of the individuals
being developed.

2. A thorough needs assessment, including investigating what managers in an orga-
nization do and the skills they need to perform effectively, is essential.

3. Specific objectives, both for the overall program and for each of its components,
(e.g., on-the-job experiences, classroom training) should be established.

4. Involvement in and commitment of senior management in all phases of the process, from
needs assessment to evaluation, is critical. Simply stated, it is management’s respon-
sibility to ensure that the organization has a high quality management team.

5. A variety of developmental opportunities, both formal and on-the-job, should be
used. Furthermore, as emphasized by action learning advocates, there must
be a linkage between what is learned in the classroom and what people are
actually doing in their jobs.

6. The program should be designed to ensure that the individuals to be devel-
oped are motivated to participate in such activities. The day-to-day demands
placed on managers at all levels make it easy to put development issues on
the back burner.

7. Action should be taken to evaluate the effectiveness of the program regularly
and modify and update it as needs change.

Although this list contains nothing new or startling (especially coming in the
thirteenth chapter of this text!), many management development programs do
not conform to these basic expectations.205 Robert Terry decries what he calls
a “management development conspiracy,” whereby trainees, trainer, and organi-
zational representatives continue to send managers to development programs,
despite the lack of clear evidence that these programs are providing meaningful
organizational benefits.206 We present you with the ideal, realizing full well that
reality often falls short of this. Ghoshal and colleagues call for a more proactive
role for managers in organizations and society.207 In our view, effective manage-
ment education and development efforts will be critical for managers to success-
fully take on this new role. Prescriptions such as those on our previous list take
on added significance given the environmental turbulence currently facing orga-
nizations and their managers. As stated by Longenecker and Ariss: “The compet-
itive climate of the twenty-first century dictates that organizations take a more
proactive posture regarding management education and development in order
to stay competitive.”208 Effective managers remain critical for organizational
effectiveness, and management development is a primary means of ensuring
that managers have the knowledge and competencies necessary to be effective,
both now and in the future.209 Whether you manage other employees, or never
wish to, we hope that you see the importance of this topic to your own lives and
careers. The Integrative Case at the end of this chapter is meant to help you
think through the manner in which the various topics presented in this chapter

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 473

might fit together in an international business setting. As we discuss more in

Chapter 14, resistance to change can be a major barrier to meaningful
development—and this is not simply an issue for “line” employees, but can be
present in managers, potential managers, and HRD professionals as well.210

RETURN TO OPENING CASE

This challenging situation was faced by a large com- instructor has additional information on the program
munity hospital in New York City. Two management
consultants were hired who worked together with and the outcomes obtained by it.
executives and human resource professionals at the
hospital to design and implement a management train- SOURCES: Adapted from Watad, M., & Ospina, S. (1999). Inte-
ing program. This program was first offered to execu- grated managerial training: A program for strategic management
tives, and then to seventeen middle-level hospital development, Public Personnel Management, 28, 185–196; Brown,
managers. A particular focus of the training was on W. A., & Yoshioka, C. F. (2003). Mission attachment and satisfaction
linking the strategic needs of the organization with as factors in employee retention. Nonprofit Management and Lead-
the individual training needs of participants. Your ership, 14, 5–18; Iverson, J., & Burkart, P. (2007). Managing elec-
tronic documents and work flows: Enterprise content management
at work in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management and
Leadership, 17, 403–419.

SUMMARY PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

Management development is one of the most widely offered and important forms
of HRD. It should be deliberate, long-term oriented, specific to an organization,
and tied to the organization’s strategic plan.

While one would expect that existing research on the managerial job would
provide a clear picture of what managers do, the competencies they need, and
how they develop, there is much we still do not know. This chapter presents
several ways this issue has been addressed and emphasizes the importance of care-
ful study by HRD researchers and practitioners to better answer questions about
the managerial job when designing management development programs for their
own organizations.

Options for management education include college and university degree
programs and executive education. In addition, we also explore organizationally
based training and experience methods, including courses and programs, corpo-
rate universities, and on-the-job experiences.

To illustrate the content of some of the approaches used in management
development, we describe two common training programs: leadership training
and behavior modeling training. Two approaches to leadership development
are presented, transformational leadership, and leaders developing leaders.
Behavior modeling training involves learning by observing a model perform
the behavior in question. Trainees are usually shown a videotape of a model
performing the behavior. They discuss the components of the behavior, prac-
tice the behavior by role playing, and receive constructive feedback on their
performance. This form of training has been shown to be effective for both
motor and interpersonal skills.

The chapter closes with a list of recommendations for designing effective
management development programs.

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

474 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

action learning management development
behavior modeling management education
characteristics approach management training
developmental challenge profile (DCP) modeling phase
executive education on-the-job experiences
executive MBA (EMBA) programs rehearsal phase
feedback phase retention phase
four-dimensional model transfer of training phase
integrated competency model transformational leadership
learning points

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Explain why management development is one of the most common HRD
activities found in organizations today.

2. Given the current trends toward empowerment and employing fewer levels
of management, how important do you believe management development
will be in the next ten years? Support your answer.

3. Why is it important for an HRD practitioner to understand managerial roles
and competencies? How are these assessed? How is this information used as a
needs assessment in designing a management development program?

4. Efforts to accurately and completely describe the job of managing have met
with considerable frustration. Why do you think the job of managing has
proved so difficult to pin down? Which of the ideas and models offered so
far do you believe to be the most useful in guiding management develop-
ment? Support your choice.

5. Compare and contrast management education, management training, and on
the-job experiences. How can these be combined in a strategic management
development program?

6. Briefly describe the key advantages and disadvantages of the three approaches
to management education. Under what conditions would you recommend
that an organization send its managers to an executive MBA program?

7. Explain how management education prepares a manager for his or her role.
What are the different forms of management education? In your opinion, can
they be substituted by training or on-the-job experiences? Why or why not?

8. Explain the role on-the-job experience plays in a manager’s development.
Identify two ways an organization can increase the chances that the on-
the-job experiences its managers encounter will be developmental
experiences.

9. Describe how managing in a global environment can differ from the tradi-
tional approach to managing. Describe one way that we can develop man-
agers to be more successful in a global environment.

10. Describe the components of the behavior modeling approach to training.
Then describe how you would use these components to design a behavior

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 13 Management Development 475 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

modeling session that trains supervisors to effectively obtain an employee’s
agreement for improved performance.

EXERCISE: PROFILING AN EFFECTIVE LEADER211

Select an individual that you think is an effective leader. This can be someone
real or fictitious, and can come from a movie, book, popular culture, or from
history. You are urged to select someone whom you find personally compelling
or interesting. In your opinion, what factors or attributes contribute to this per-
son’s effectiveness as a leader? How could people be trained to increase more of
the attributes you identified in your target leader? Your instructor will give you
guidance in terms of the length of the assignment you are to complete.

SOURCE: Adapted from Mello, J. A. (2003). Profiles in leadership: Enhancing
learning through model and theory building. Journal of Management Education,
27(3), 344–361.

INTEGRATIVE CASE: TRAINING GENERAL MANAGERS
AT BRISTOL-MYERS-SQUIBB212

Bristol-Myers-Squibb (BMS) is a large global pharmaceutical company. A key
position in the organization is that of general manager. General managers serve
in two main roles: 1) commercial general managers bring products to market in
countries around the world, and 2) technical general managers are responsible for
the manufacturing and quality of products. The general manager position is
complex, and these individuals have ultimate decision-making authority for
their region or location. In the past, it has taken individuals an average of
12 years to reach this position in the organization. Typically, general managers
are in a given position for a limited number of years, before they are expected to
move to another position or location in the organization.

In the past, the formal development provided to individuals as they moved
into their roles as BMS general managers was inconsistent, with some individuals
placed in “sink or swim” situations. A BMS General Manager Advisory Council
was formed to give direction to a new initiative in developing employees to be
effective general managers.

Questions: If you were a consultant or advisor to this Advisory Council, where would you rec-
ommend that they begin in their efforts to create a new formal development program for general
managers? What types of developmental opportunities would you recommend that they consider?
What mix of formal and informal developmental opportunities would you recommend, and why?
What can BMS do to determine how successful these new developmental programs are?

SOURCE: Adapted from Dervin, M., & Frappolli, K. (2011). Aligning leadership
development for general managers with global strategy: The Bristol-Myers-Squibb
story. Industrial and Commercial Training, 43(1), 4–12.

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

14

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
AND CHANGE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define organization development (OD)
2. Understand the basic theories and concepts of OD
3. Describe the planned-change model
4. Explain the roles of a change agent, manager, and people within a system in

developing an intervention strategy
5. Understand the basic steps involved in designing an implementation strategy
6. Explain the different types of intervention strategies: human-process based,

techno-structural, sociotechnical, and organizational transformation
7. Describe the role of HRD practitioners in OD interventions

476

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 14 Organization Development and Change 477

OPENING CASE

Extrusion (a pseudonym) is a Norwegian company Questions: If you were a consultant working on this
that sought to flatten its organizational structure and change project, what issues would you raise before
increase the amount of employee participation in the the organization switched to a flatter, more participative
organization. The new CEO of the company was very organizational structure? What issues or problems
enthusiastic about this idea, and enlisted the help of a might this organization face as it seeks to make such
management professor to document the progress a change? What types of things can it do to try to mini-
and changes expected to occur as a result of this mize these problems?
major change in the organizational structure.

INTRODUCTION PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

In this chapter, we will emphasize:

• HRD interventions that focus on the group or organizational level
• Theories about how individuals, groups, and organizations successfully deal

with change

• A model of planned change that integrates individual, group, and organizational-

level variables

• Several HRD efforts that promote transformation of the organization as a whole
• A view of organizations as high performance work systems, where all parts

are integrated and working together toward common goals

Change has become a way of life for most organizations. Pressure from
increasing competition, globalization, technological developments, and other
forces has created an environment that rewards organizations that are capable of
identifying trends and issues and responding quickly to them.1 The element of
HRD that can best enable organizations to embrace and manage change is orga-
nization development. Effectively dealing with change is a defining element in
whether organizations thrive, survive, stagnate, or cease to exist.2

Organization Development Defined

Organization development (OD) has been defined as “the systemwide application
and transfer of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development,
improvement, and reinforcement of the strategies, structures, and processes that
lead to organization effectiveness.”3 More broadly, organization development
can be viewed as a process used to enhance both the effectiveness of an organi-
zation and the well-being of its members through planned interventions.4 Notice
three key points here. First, OD is intended to enhance the effectiveness of an
organization. Effectiveness, in this context, is defined as achieving organizational
goals and objectives.5 The focus of many organizational development efforts is
on increasing organizational learning, with the intent of then impacting organi-
zational performance.6 Second, OD enhances the well-being of organization
members. Well-being refers to the perceived overall satisfaction each organiza-
tion member feels toward his or her job and work environment. Generally

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

478 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

speaking, “having challenging and meaningful work leads to high work satisfac-
tion and, if rewarded by the organization, to higher satisfaction with rewards as
well.”7 Thus, OD is intended to enhance both personal and work satisfaction.

Third, OD is used to enhance the effectiveness of organizations and individ-
ual well-being through planned interventions. Planned interventions refer “to
sets of structured activities in which selected organizational units (target groups
or individuals) engage with a task or sequence of tasks where the task goals are
related directly or indirectly to organizational improvement.”8 Thus, planned
interventions, or intervention strategies, are the primary means through which
organizational improvement and change takes place.9 Many training programs
fail to show any tangible benefits to organizations or to individuals, and some
of this can be attributed to inadequate attention to issues at the group and orga-
nizational levels, especially concerning organizational culture.10

Plan of the Chapter

The purpose of this chapter is to define organizational development theories and
concepts. First, we will introduce and discuss a model of planned change. Then,
we will discuss the various roles involved in planning and implementing change
strategies. Next, we will discuss four types of change strategies and some of the
specific techniques used in each. Finally, we will discuss the role of the HRD
professional in introducing and managing change.

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT THEORIES
AND CONCEPTS

OD theories have evolved primarily from four academic disciplines—psychology,
sociology, anthropology, and management. OD theory can be divided into two
categories—change process theory and implementation theory.

Change Process Theory

Change process theory seeks to explain the dynamics through which organizational
improvement and change takes place.11 Kurt Lewin depicted the change process as
occurring in three stages—unfreezing, moving, and refreezing.12 These stages have
also been labeled readiness, adoption, and institutionalization.13 The unfreezing stage
involves the process of getting people to accept that change is inevitable and to stop
doing certain things that resist change (e.g., clinging to an ineffective policy, practice,
or behavior). The moving stage involves getting people to accept the new, desired
state (e.g., new policies and practices). The last stage, refreezing, involves making the
new practices and behaviors a permanent part of the operation or role expectations.
Lewin views change as deriving from two forces: (1) those internally driven (from a
person’s own needs) and (2) those imposed or induced by the environment. Envi-
ronmental forces can be further distinguished between driving (pushing for change)
and restraining forces (those seeking to maintain the status quo). For change to be
environmentally imposed, driving forces must outnumber restraining forces.

Edgar Schein further delineates each stage of Lewin’s model (see Table 14-1).14
The emphasis of Schein’s Change Model is on the dynamics of individual change

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 14 Organization Development and Change 479

Stage 1 Unfreezing—creating motivation and readiness to change through: TABLE 14-1
Stage 2 a. Disconfirmation or lack of confirmation Schein’s Three-Stage
Stage 3 b. Creation of guilt or anxiety Model of the Change
c. Provision of psychological safety Process

Changing through cognitive restructuring—helping an individual to
see, judge, feel, and react differently based on a new point of view
obtained through:
a. Identifying with a new role model, mentor, and so on
b. Scanning the environment for new relevant information

Refreezing—helping an individual to integrate the new point of
view into:
a. His or her total personality and self-concept
b. Significant relationships

SOURCE: From Schein, E. H. (1987). Process consultation (vol. 2, p. 93). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

and how a change agent assists with managing these changes. At stage 1 (unfreezing), PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
the change agent motivates a person to accept change by disconfirming his or her
attitudes, behaviors, or performance. For example, for an employee to correct poor
work habits, he or she must first accept that his or her performance is inappropriate.
At stage 2 (changing through cognitive restructuring), the emphasis is on getting the
employee to see and do things differently and to actually believe that by changing
work habits, his or her performance will improve. Finally, at stage 3 (refreezing), the
change agent helps the person to integrate these new behaviors (work habits) into his
or her thought patterns. This stage focuses on helping the employee to reconfirm his
or her self-concept and reinforce desired performance standards.

Trader-Leigh provides an interesting case study of resistance hindering
change efforts at the U.S. State Department.15 Similarly, Corley and Gioia, as
well as Bernerth, describe cases of “identity ambiguity” and “failed readiness,”
respectively, that is, problems with the unfreezing stage, when U.S. manufac-
turers spun off a subsidiary.16 Oreg found that individual-level resistance to
organizational change was related to job satisfaction and turnover intentions.17
As a counterpoint, Dent and Goldberg challenge the notion that individuals
universally resist change.18 They argue:

People may resist loss of status, loss of pay, or loss of comfort, but these are
not the same as resisting change…. Employees may resist the unknown,
being dictated to, or management ideas that do not seem feasible from the
employees’ standpoint. However, in our research, we have found few or no
instances of employees resisting change.19

Dent and Goldberg argue that Lewin’s notion of resistance to change has
been misunderstood, and that the proper focus should be at the systems level.
That is, work takes place within a system of roles, attitudes, norms, and other
factors, and thus, resistance to change should be viewed as an issue or problem

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

480 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

for the whole organizational system, rather than focusing on individual employ-
ees. This argument is similar to that put forward by proponents of the High Per-
formance Work System concept, which we will cover at the end of this chapter.
Dealing with individual-level change is clearly vital, but this also needs to be
understood and handled within the context of changes and forces operating
within an organization as a whole.

Instead of focusing on resistance to change, it has recently been argued that
the emphasis should be on individual readiness to change.20 To promote open-
ness or readiness to change, Armenakis, Bernerth, and colleagues recommend
that five topics be satisfactorily addressed. They are:

1. Discrepancy—the gap between a current and an ideal state; addresses the
question: “Why change?”

2. Efficacy—confidence in the individual and group’s ability to make a change;
addresses the question: “Can we do this?”21

3. Appropriateness—perception that a particular course of action is the right
response to correct the discrepancy identified; addresses the question: “Why
this change?”

4. Principal support—key organizational leaders support a change; addresses the
question: “Is management walking the talk?”

5. Valence—the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits of a change; answers the question:
“What is in it for me?”22

Implementation Theory

Implementation theory focuses on specific intervention strategies designed to
induce changes. We briefly discuss some underlying theories and concepts of four
types of interventions: human process-based, techno-structural, sociotechnical sys-
tems (STS) designs, and large systems. Later in the chapter, we will go into more
detail about specific types of OD interventions within each of these categories.

Human Process-Based Intervention Theory. Human process-based theo-
ries, also known as human processual theories, place a heavy emphasis on the process
of change and focus on changing behaviors by modifying individual attitudes,
values, problem-solving approaches, and interpersonal styles. The theoretical under-
pinnings of this approach are drawn from the behavioral sciences, particularly need,
expectancy, reinforcement, and job-satisfaction theories (see Chapter 2). The appli-
cation of these theories to change interventions was pioneered in the 1950s by
Lewin, in collaboration with others such as Lippitt, White, Likert, and McGregor.
Lewin was able to transfer his knowledge of the way planned interventions produce
desired behavioral changes in a social setting to organizational settings.23 Lewin hypoth-
esized that interventions should be directed at the group level rather than at the
individual level. He felt that changing an individual’s behavior without first chang-
ing group norms would be fruitless, because that individual would be viewed as a
deviate and pressured to return to his or her former behavior pattern. Lewin’s work
led to the development of several OD intervention techniques, including survey
feedback and force field analysis, which is discussed later in the chapter.

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

CHAPTER 14 Organization Development and Change 481 PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

Chris Argyris, another early pioneer of human process-based intervention strat-
egies, postulated that the basic requirements of an intervention activity are valid
information, free choice, and internal commitment.24 To facilitate change, a person
involved should have useful information with which to diagnose a situation and then
act on that information. Free choice implies that a person involved in a change pro-
cess has the autonomy, control, and motivation to implement an intervention activ-
ity. Internal commitment implies that the person or persons involved in the change
process have “ownership” of the strategy and, by implication, “have processed valid
information and made an informed free choice.”25 Argyris’s early work led to the
development of several team-building techniques, including process consultation,
role clarification, and confrontation meetings (team building is discussed later in
the chapter). The increasing use of work teams in organizations requires a significant
shift in the manner in which organizations are managed, and OD principles can be
used to facilitate this shift in culture, values, and control systems.26

Techno-Structural Intervention Theory. Techno-structural theory focuses
on improving work content, work method, work flow, performance factors,
and relationships among workers.27 One of the key concepts with this approach
is job design. A job has several distinguishing characteristics, including individual
tasks or duties, responsibilities, authority, relationships, and skill requirements.
Hackman and Oldham hypothesized that certain job characteristics affect
employee psychological states, which in turn affect work outcomes and satisfac-
tion.28 They believed that changing one or more of a job’s characteristics—
a strategy called job enrichment—can induce positive psychological changes
resulting in improved performance and satisfaction. Hackman and Oldham’s
work has been primarily applied to job redesign (job enrichment programs), an
intervention tool for increasing job satisfaction and productivity.

Another dimension of techno-structural intervention strategies is the level of par-
ticipation in the change process. Many practitioners readily accept that a design should
be “participative” without first understanding the impact of participation on an indi-
vidual or organization.29 Statements like “people will participate if given the oppor-
tunity” or “people prefer participation to nonparticipation” are too simplistic.30 One
difficulty for practitioners is that participation is still a vaguely defined construct.31

Sociotechnical Systems (STS) Designs. Sociotechnical systems (STS) inter-
ventions are “directed at the fit between the technological configuration and the
social structure of work units … [which] results in the rearrangement of relation-
ships among roles or tasks or a sequence of activities to produce self-maintaining,
semiautonomous groups.”32 Most of the early research in the 1960s and 1970s
focused on quality of work life interventions. The projects focused on such
things as industrial democratization, participative management, job enrichment,
and work rescheduling interventions. The underlying emphasis of these projects
was on the impact of such interventions on worker satisfaction and productivity.

At the same time that STS designs were being developed, W.E. Deming
pioneered techniques of employee involvement geared toward improving qual-
ity. In the early 1950s, Deming introduced these concepts to U.S. corporations,
which were initially not very receptive to his approaches. Deming later spoke to

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

482 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

a group of Japanese industrialists who found his message consistent with their
general business philosophy. With the application of Deming’s concepts to STS
theory, STS interventions have begun to focus on “empowering” the worker to
assume more lateral responsibility for the work. These innovations include qual-
ity circles, total quality management, and self-managed teams.

Organization Transformation Change. The theory of organization trans-
formation (OT) change was pioneered by Beckhard, who viewed organizations as
complex, human systems, each possessing a unique character, culture, and value
system, along with “information and work procedures that must be continually
examined, analyzed, and improved if optimum productivity and motivation are to
result.”33 His approach assumes that there are numerous challenges facing managers,
including changes in mission, ways of doing business, ownership, and the impact of
downsizing. To meet these challenges, organizational leaders must be able to
develop a vision guided by beliefs and principles that can be translated into a mis-
sion and goals. The mission and goals should form the basis for managing an orga-
nization, effectively using technology and distributing rewards. To do this
effectively, organizational leaders must understand such things as the nature of cul-
ture and what it takes to change it, the significant role of values in an organization’s
life, the general sociopolitical nature of the world, technology, and, finally, the
concepts of managing change effectively and of balancing stability and change.34

Limitations of Research Supporting OD Theories

As in many areas of HRD, there are limitations in the research that has been con-
ducted to test the underlying theoretical constructs and the effectiveness of OD
interventions.35 These limitations include:

1. The lack of true experimental designs in most OD research

2. The lack of resources available to many OD practitioners

3. The limitations of field research designs

4. Potential bias by OD evaluators (who are often the designers of the
intervention)

5. Simply a “lack of motivation” by the OD evaluator to do the job correctly36

In particular, it is difficult to isolate causality in such research. Applying tradi-
tional experimental strategies, which attempt to isolate causation, to OD interven-
tions forces researchers to focus on a single intervention episode and overlook the
systematic nature of organizations.37 In addition, most OD research results are
measured by changes in attitudes and behaviors. This is a limitation because attitu-
dinal and behavioral changes are considered intervening variables and may have
very little to do with the improvements in group and organization performance
that OD interventions are ultimately intended to achieve.38

One significant methodological development is the application of meta-analysis
to OD research. Meta-analysis is a set of analytical techniques that statistically com-
bines the results of studies that are investigating the same variable or intervention,
making it easier to draw conclusions from prior research. In addition to examining
the effects of change interventions on dependent variables, meta-analysis also makes it

Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.